Faeries Fighting for the Future
by Dreamy Duskywing
Summary: The Fae are dying, they have forgotten their past and have little hope for the future.  Enter two newborn twins to help shake things up.  Akuroku, SorRiku.  AU, probably OOC...no smut, but obviously...yaoi.  TITLE CHANGE!
1. Prologue

**A.N -** I've had this chapter written for a long time, but Starship Oblivion tackled me and insisted to be written. I am a big kid at heart and adore all things fairy tale and magical. I realise this currently has no mention of any KH characters or worlds at all yet...Characters will come into play in the next chapter...I suppose you could say that this itty bitty chapter is simply a prologue. Soooo, Let me know what you think. I love reading reviews, they make my heart swell and my creative juices begin to zoom around my brain at high speeds.

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Once upon a time, when the world was young, mankind and the Fae lived in harmony, working together to encourage life from the land they lived in. Their life depended on the earth, just as the earth depended upon them. The Fae and the Humans were alike in appearance, though the Fae were much smaller and had wings. This was the extent of their similarities. Humans constantly reached further than they were, wanting to learn new things. Observing the life around them, humans strove to learn the skills other creatures had. From the herbivores they learnt what was safe to eat, from the predators they learnt to hunt. They envied birds their wings and dreamt of flying, they watched the fish with envious eyes and wished that they could explore the depths of the world's waters. The Fae were content with their lives. They had been gifted with magick and the ability to fly. One of the things Humans envied their Fae friends for was their lifespan. When Humans were lucky to live over half a century, the eldest of the Fae had seen half a dozen. The Fae were in tune with the earth in a way that the Humans were not. They felt her as they felt their own selves, knew that she lived and breathed, felt her slumber in winter and stir in the spring. The Fae adored the Earth with their entire being whereas Humans saw her as their home and understood the need to care for it; they would never feel her as the Fae did.

In their passion to become greater than they were born, the humans followed the creatures that lived in the darkness of caves into the underworld. The earth's secret spaces, hidden from the light of the sun were explored and lit by fire. The humans exclaimed over the treasures they unearthed, shiny metals, glowing stones, unusual creatures and caverns which glowed like the night sky. Human kind became obsessed with these new discoveries, learning ways to mould the metals they gouged from its home and how to cut rock into shapes from which they could build bigger and sturdier homes. The Fae despaired the madness that slowly overtook the Humans, try as they might, the Fae could not get the humans to listen to them, nor could they show them the pain they were inflicting upon the earth. It tormented the Fae daily, each new atrocity the Humans committed was felt by the Fae as if the pain were their own. The disease the Humans had contracted had cut them off from nature, forcing the poor creatures to rape the land of her resources which were once given in return for the Human's care. The Fae Folk watched in horror as man forgot to give back to the earth after harvesting his crops, neglected to plant new saplings when he chopped trees down to create his home. Finally the Fae were forced to flee their home as mankind built monstrous cities that belched smoke and foulness into the air, poisoning the earth that breathed it. These cities took over the land the Fae had long called home and were a visible resemblance of the extent of the Humans' disease. They called it 'Technology'.

As the Human's 'Technology' allowed them to reach further corners of the earth, the Fae were driven before them. The King and Queen had decided that it was best for the Fae to drift into obscurity and hide from mankind. They saw glimpses of the creatures Humans had once been in those who strived to save pockets of land from Technology. 'Parkland' was created and protected from the clutching fingers of Technology, and in the deepest hearts of these tamed wild places, the Fae made their new homes. Spreading out through ancient forests that some of the healthier humans were protecting meant that the Fae would be more difficult to find. There was no room for them to live in the large communities they once had, no longer could they revel in the moonlight at the Fae Court Gatherings. They had to split into groups tied together by bonds of friendship and family and create new homes. The Fae always lived in the presence of Oak, Ash and Hawthorne trees due to their sacred ties to the earth. This meant that the Fae had to spread out far and wide to create their new homes and, though they intended to remember their old lives, their memories began to fade into myths and legends until they were all but forgotten in the mists of time. When they had attended the Faerie Court, the Fae Folk had been inclined to remember their past and plan for the future. Certain Fae were charged with the task of recording and recounting history. Now there was no Court, the Fae forgot. Too much. They barely recalled the horror of the human disease; the nests elected their own Queens, forgetting their true monarchs and even forgot the extent of their own kind's numbers, concentrating solely on the few nests surrounding their own and sadly forgetting there were others spread farther afield.

Over the centuries following the splitting of the Fae, mankind's disease only got worse and the Fae Folk continued to forget things they should not have. After this time spanned, it became clear that something was not right. The Fae lived long lives, but were not among the immortal. Slowly, the nests found that their males were becoming fewer until the females vastly outnumbered the males. It came to pass that some nests had only a father and his son living within them. Others had no males at all. Panic overtook the Fae and for the first time in centuries, they searched out their long lost brethren. Nests that had lived in ignorance of each other for years found they had neighbours. But no one could figure out why the males were dying out. Where humans females carried and tended the young, as mammals tended to do, the Fae Folk were egg layers. And it was the males who laid the eggs. Once a decade, were a male truly happy, he would lay a clutch of eggs. Depending on his happiness, he could lay from five to twenty eggs. These would hatch in a full rotation of seasons into a clutch of tiny Fae boys and girls. The female Fae would tend the eggs and act as foster mothers to the children, the male would watch his offspring grow, but allowed them to be cared for by others. The maternal instinct raged within certain female Fae but not the males.

Whilst eggs were one way for Fae to be born, it was not the only way, which was a good thing considering the dwindling number of males. The latest generation of hatched males did not lay a clutch that birthed any boys. The females swelled in number still, each time an innocent expressed true joy for the first time in its life, a female Fae was born. She would appear under a hawthorn tree that bloomed in celebration of her birth. Males were not born this way. Other than hatching, there was one way that a male would be born and this was a rare gift. When an acorn bloomed into a flower rather than a seedling tree, a male faery would grow inside the bloom as he would within an egg. However, being born of a blooming acorn instilled great power within the male. According to the conditions his acorn bloomed under, the faery would have greater magical gifts than seen in any other Fae.

And this brings us to our story. If you listen you can hear the soft breathing of one of the acorn bloomed Fae. He is sleeping, curled up tight against winter's chill. His magicks burn within him like flames. This is his special area of magick, fire obeys his will. He is a warm being, filled with the capacity to love unconditionally. However, this faery has yet to find his soul mate, the one to make him truly happy and to gift him the ability to sire young. The nearest male is a day's flight away and he has visited all the nests he can reach in the hopes of finding _his_ soul mate. That male was the last one to hatch; no more eggs will be laid until one of these two males discovers true happiness. And that seems more and more unlikely.

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**A.N -** I simply had to write a faery tale. I hope you guys don't get put off by my archaic spelling of 'fairy', I can't help it – I think it's more 'romantic' I suppose. Lol. I'll be writing the first chapter before I go curl up and sleep; it's too early for bed just yet. Don't forget to review. ^.^ Prizes go to who can guess who the sleeping faery is! Hahaha. I do _so_ *heart* Axel! :P

_Dreamy xxx_


	2. Chapter 1

**A.N -** Looks like this story is going to have pretty short chapters at the moment. I hope you don't mind. They might get longer, but as per usual, I don't really have a plot planned for this story. I'm hoping it'll continue to leap out at me when I least expect it. I'm adding a Soriku element to the story and am slightly nervous. Akuroku is my OTP and I haven't written any other before. *gulp* Hope it's ok.

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"Axel! AXEL!" Came a high pitched voice, penetrating the layers of sleep surrounding a curled form nestled in his hollowed sleeping place. The figure stirred slightly, a flash of red revealing itself, only to be grabbed and yanked on by a tiny hand. A low growl resounded around the hollow, only causing the sleeper to come closer to waking.

"Xion! I told you, you're not the one. No tingling at all. Leave me 'lone!" the voice was deep but its usual warmth was sleep clogged and irritable. Especially since the tugging on the red spikes of hair continued, despite the owner's attempts to shift the vulnerable tufts away from the nest's entrance. With a pained moan, the red haired faery uncurled from his pocket of sleep warmth and piercing green eyes gazed balefully out at the bright blue ones which were shining with some kind of excitement. Axel scowled, it was winter and he tended to go into a kind of hibernation when it was cold. "What. Do. You. Want?" he grated at the tiny female with dark locks framing her delicate face. Xion beamed.

"There's a birthing." She chirped, eager eyes sparkling. Axel looked unimpressed. A faery was born when an innocent laughed its first joy filled laugh. It was cause to celebrate, of course, and it was only proper that he was there to greet the new nest sister, but Axel had long given up on finding his mate. Xion seemed to read the utter lack of interest in their only male's expression. Her eyes turned sly as she waited for Axel to snort and turn as if to curl back and claim his slumber again. "An acorn bloomed under the moon last night." She declared, smiling from ear to ear as her hand wrapped around the male's and tugged him from his nest. The sleep bleared faery frowned before his eyes widened and he threw on the garments thrust into his hands, a deep green tunic with bronze coloured trousers. The Queen would be tending to the acorn's bloom and one had to look one's best when attending court. Axel hopped after Xion whilst pulling on soft brown boots and stretching out his wings. Whispers resounded through the entire clan's nest. '_A male at last_'. This made Axel frown as he tugged fingers through his red spikes of hair; after all _he _was a male. It wasn't his fault that none of the flittering females had managed to catch his attention. If they expected him to halt the dwindling of their numbers, the least they could do was find him someone to make him happy. Surely it shouldn't be that difficult.

Axel recalled the story of his own birthing. His acorn had bloomed under the midday sun on Midsummer Day, leading the faery to fire magicks. The nest had rejoiced. A male meant eggs, and eggs could lead to more males. The boy faery child had been tended to carefully and, upon reaching his fifth year and physical maturity, had faced the interests of each female in the nest. When he showed no interest in any of them, hopeful females from neighbouring nests had come to meet him. Xion had been the last and unlike the other females, had remained friends with the fiery-haired male. Although none of the females had made Axel tingle, there was the possibility that the 'tingling' was a myth. Would he really know his soul mate when he saw her? Axel had suspected for a while that Xion had recognised the loneliness of his existence and had befriended him in the hopes that it would make him happy enough to produce a clutch. It hadn't worked, but Xion had stayed none the less, enjoying the male's company more than her hatchling sisters and brother. Xion had been birthed of an egg; all but one of her siblings had been female. Riku was a striking faery, tall and slender like Axel but with starlight silver hair and a much more serious nature. This male also had not found the one to make him happy enough to form eggs. Despair had taken hold of the Faerie Courts. But today was a day of celebration for a new male would be birthed and as many of the nearby Fae as possible had come to witness the occasion.

Axel paused at the entrance to the birthing room, catching Riku's aquamarine gaze. The other male nodded amicably and smiled as Xion caught his hand in her free one and dragged the two males into the room. They paused in bewilderment, all neighbouring nests had converged, three queens stood around the glowing acorn bloom. The flower was still furled in its bud, but only loosely and emitted a soft, warm glowing light. Females ringed the room, singing to the birthing male, humming their encouragement and welcoming. Being the only males in known existence, Axel and Riku enjoyed the perks usually reserved for the queens. Their progress with Xion in tow was not contested and soon they joined the three queens around the acorn bloom. The room seemed to hold its breath as the petals unfurled one by one. The warm light intensified, becoming too bright to look at. As the last two petals opened, the light dimmed and the room filled with a bell like ringing. Riku let out a hiss, breathing the words "At last!" as his eyes fell on the babe cradled at the flower's heart. Axel swayed; his whole being felt like it was filled with sparkling elderberry wine. His heart beat faster at the sight of the opened acorn bloom and he suddenly keeled over to one side. Xion attempted to support the swooning faery, but failed to keep him upright, both toppled to the floor, Xion trapped beneath the larger weight of the unconscious male. The females around the room began to get over their initial shock and the hum of voices soon filled the room. Shock reverberated from sister to sister. For nestled at the centre of the acorn bloom was something no one had expected. The infant male they'd expected had tiny furled wings and a shock of cinnamon brown hair. Curled so close to the infant that they were practically entwined was a second boy – almost identical to the first except for his honey blonde hair. The three Queens looked upon the twins in shock before the head nest mother hesitantly bustled forward and scooped one boy under each arm, nodding at the Queens before bearing the newest Fae children to the nursery. Axel's splayed form finally drew attention and it wasn't long before he was being carried to the healers. Riku went unnoticed as he followed silently behind the nest mother, an expression of idolisation on his hopeful face.

Axel reached his hands from beneath his snug blankets to rub at his eyes sleepily. His stomach rumbled loudly, reminding him that although it was winter, it still needed to be filled. Groaning unhappily at the prospect of sliding out of his warm toasty nest, Axel blearily blinked open his eyes to find a bright blue pair of eyes hovering just inches above him. Letting out a garbled yell, Axel scooted to one side and fell out of bed with a thump. Shifting his weight to rub his now sore bottom, Axel glared around the room, slowly coming to realise he wasn't in his own room. This realisation had started when he'd fallen out of bed seeing that Axel slept in a hollowed out nest in the wall of his room. "Good morning sleepyhead! We didn't think you were EVER going to wake up! I was getting bored but Riku said I should stay with you in case you decided to set something on fire when you didn't know where you were. He'd have stayed himself except he's making ga-ga faces over..." Xion trailed off, looking uncomfortable and Axel shot to his feet.

"Ga-ga faces?" he questioned, finding the terminology bizarre. "You mean he's found his soul mate? Oh I'm so happy for him!" Axel beamed and twirled Xion around in a circle before placing her on the floor. The girl was not smiling though, in fact, she looked slightly scared. Axel quirked an eyebrow at her, concerned by the absence of her usual chirpy self. "What?"

"Yes, we think Riku has found his soul mate. Sora's adorable but he's so young that we don't know if Riku's really feeling tingly or whether it's some kind of paternal..."

"NO!" Axel cried, his face falling from bright smiles to near tears. "No, he can't...not the baby! He...I felt...It's not fair! I didn't even have..." The babbling of the redhead dimmed and an angry expression overtook his face. Xion was talking to him frantically but he couldn't hear her past the rushing of blood in his ears. That baby, when the flower opened, Axel had felt his blood sing, his body filled with tickling feathers before he'd even seen the baby past the glowing light. So, Riku thought he could claim him as his mate? Axel was not about to let that happen. The acorn bloom had been gifted to _his_ nest; the boy was _his_ by rights. Without further word or thought, Axel leapt from the room and flew at breakneck speeds to the nursery. He felt flames crackling between the fingers of his clenched fists, zipping along the edges of his blurring wings and dancing amongst his hair. He was not going to allow Riku to ruin his one chance of happiness.

As the redhead barrelled his way into the nursery he was met with the glares from a handful of females each tending a tiny faery child, but Axel's eyes zoned in only on Riku. Letting out a garbled yell borne of anger, hurt and a deep seated sense of panic, Axel made to throttle the silver haired faery. Axel stumbled to a halt, fingers still clenched around handfuls of flame when he saw Riku was gazing down at a little bundle in his arms. Collapsing to his knees, Axel let out a pained sound and looked at the bundle longingly as the fires he'd collecting slowly faded out. Riku looked around, startled and smiled when he saw Axel. "Axel! Isn't he perfect?" he cooed, returning his gaze to the baby. "His name is Sora. He's the most amazing thing I've ever seen." The level of adoration evident in Riku's voice made a tear escape Axel's eye. A low sound tore its way from the redhead's soul and caused Riku to take a hesitant step forward, one arm reaching out to his sister's best friend. "Axel?"

"Don't touch me!" the fire faery cringed away, curling into a ball. "Don't touch me." He whispered again, oblivious to the scene he was creating. "I felt it too!" he wailed. "I felt my soul sing but you got to him first!" Riku's lips parted in shock and slow understanding.

"Axel...I..."

"Riku dear, Sora needs to come back to his brother now." A kindly female voice got louder as she entered the nursery room. "Axel? Axel, sweetheart, what's wrong?" The soft, motherly faery bustled over and scooped Axel's long limbs in close so she could cradle him against her breast. Axel melted against the female, she had been the one he'd grown up thinking of most as his mother. He let out a low moan.

"I was too late to see the baby." He muttered.

"Babies." The woman corrected softly, sifting her fingers through Axel's red locks. "Sora and Roxas, I've never heard of twin bloomed babies before. And you're not too late. You can hold Roxas. Riku's gone all Mister Possessive over Sora." The matron rolled her eyes and blinked in shock at the hopeful expression washing over Axel's face.

"Two? There are two new males?" he asked, his voice cracking with excitement.

"Ye-es." The woman said slowly, gasping when Axel tore himself from her embrace and yanked her to her feet.

"I would like to see him. Please, I want to see the baby." Axel's eyes were almost glowing with fervour and despite her hesitancy to let the male hold the child in such an unstable condition, she couldn't deny her favourite 'child' the joy of holding new life close.

Xion rushed through the nursery doors, breathing heavily; followed by her queen and the queen of the nest she now resided in. Clutching the sleeve of a mother faery carrying a bawling toddler female, Xion panted out her question. "Axel, Riku. Are they here? Are they okay?" She huffed, still trying to regain her breath. The mother smiled knowingly, nodding her head gracefully to the queens.

"Yes, they are in the boys' bedroom. Your highness', although it is a joy to see you here, Riku and Axel are getting along splendidly now." Xion looked from the mother to the queens in disbelief. She'd had to find them as soon as Axel had gone haring off; the queens were the only people the two males would listen to if they were in a temper. She followed behind the monarchs slowly, wondering what was going on, but nearly squealed at the sight that greeted them when the three females entered the room designated for any male children. Axel and Riku were sat in rocking chairs placed beside the window. Each was holding a bundle wrapped in blue cloth and feeding said bundle from a bottle. Their eyes were glazed over slightly as they gazed down upon the little miracles they held. When Riku shifted the baby to his shoulder and burped him, Xion did let out a squeak at the adorable sight of her best friend dabbing away the little sicked up milk the baby had kindly deposited on her brother's shoulder. Both males looked up, startled by the intrusion and beamed at Xion when they saw her. Their eyes then took in the sight of their respective queens and they both went to stand so they could bow properly.

"No, stay sat dear boys." Axel's queen said, raising one hand in a placating manner. Riku glanced at Axel who had nervously shielded the baby in his arms against his body and seemed to be hunching himself around the child. Riku understood the feeling completely, but was more trusting of the fae females since no one had tried to remove him from Sora since they had first arrived. "We understand that the pair of you feel that you have found your soul mates in these infant males?" The queen of the nest said slowly. Riku glanced once more at Axel who looked uncomfortable and was blushing.

"Your highness', we understand that it seems...unusual, to be attracted to a male when you are one yourself is not something either of us expected. And it seems even worse when Sora and Roxas are so young. But, we both know that we've found our soul mate. When the acorn bloom opened, I felt like I had found a part of myself that was missing. My whole being trembled. Right now, all I want is for Sora to grow up happy and healthy. I want to teach him to fly, show him life outside the nest. I feel panicky when I think about leaving him. It hurts to be parted from him. I feel..." Riku's face scrunched up as he tried to put into words the strange things that had happened to him once the tiny faery had come into his life. His voice took on a choked edge, as if he were almost in tears or frightened about something. "I feel different. Things are brighter, I feel happier, like I want to burst into song all the time. And then, I feel wary, I don't see people like I used to. My very first thought when you walked in was that you were a possible threat to Sora. Even though I know our kind will only love and cherish him, I began thinking about ways I could protect him. When he cries, I feel like I can't breathe. It is the most amazing, awe inspiring, scary and maddening experience that I've ever had." Everyone turned to look at Axel. The red haired faery looked up from cooing down at the blond babe in his arms and blinked at the sudden attention focused on him.

"I love him." He said simply, gazing into the bright blue eyes that stared up at him. "I was ready to..." Axel gulped. "I was willing to fight Riku for the baby. I lost consciousness when they were born, I didn't see that there were two babies. I felt my blood begin to fizz through my veins and I fainted. When Xion told me that Riku was looking after the baby, I saw red. I felt as if I'd lost an important part of myself, a precious treasure. But I don't love Sora...not the way I do Roxas. He is my light." Xion dabbed at the little tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. Riku had been more descriptive, but Axel's simple confession touched her heart and she could see the two queens had been similarly affected. "Please, don't take them from us." Axel pleaded, his brilliant green eyes shining with fear, hope and a burning sense of determination.

"We won't. Never fear. So long as the twins are content with you, they shall remain with you. However, if they do not return your feelings for them, I hope you realise it will be necessary to share them with the one that they love." Riku's queen spoke up, eyeing each male solemnly. Riku simply nodded whereas Axel gulped audibly and tried to push away the pain of the idea that Roxas wouldn't love him back.

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**A.N -** There you have it. Adorable Sora and Roxas fae babies. naaaaaw. Axel and Riku playing mummy. Or mommy...I'm British so I'm sorry if some of the words I use seem odd to my readers across the pond. lol. I don't know when I'll update next, I have college to 'enjoy' and it's a lot of work! So, please be patient with me. Reviews are the best way to get me to write! *shamelessly begging for reviews* Thank you for the favourites, but it's not the same as hearing _WHY_ you like it. Doesn't have to be much, just a single word would do me just fine!

_Dreamy xxx_


	3. Chapter 2

**A.N -** I personally think Starship Oblivion is better than this story, but you guys seem to prefer this one! XD Not that I'm complaining, I've been smiling for the last few days because of the wonderful reviews I've recieved. You're the best! I have to apologise for this chapter...if it makes no sense - let me know. I finished it in a stupor having been at college for 12 hours. But a review made me want to update so I forced myself to avoid my bed for an extra hour and wrote the last couple of paragraphs for the update. :)

Sooo... Chibi Kitsune and Captara, I dedicate chapter 2 to you. :) Thank you for being so enthusiastic over my doodley writing! :)

**Disclaimer -** Don't know if I disclaimed the last chapter or not. Buuuuut, I do not own the characters contained in this story. They have all been pilfered for my (and your) enjoyment. I intend fully to give them back once I've finished with them, at least until I need them again! :) They like to come and play. Honest!

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A loud shriek reverberated around the walls of the nest and the thunder of little feet drew many a faery's attention way before the mop of brown spiky hair zoomed past. The tiny Fae boy was giggling manically as he ran, weaving in and out of furniture and legs in an attempt to escape with his coveted prize. The cooks had made a large batch of honey cakes for the twin boy's birthday feast. They were turning one and, rather than wait for the meal, Sora had decided to swipe one of the tasty treats for himself. Unfortunately, Larxene the head chef had spotted him licking his fingers clean from the first cake and had let out an angry shout. Looking up in surprise from his supposed hiding spot under the table, Sora had snaked out a quick hand, snatched another cake and took off running, Larxene in hot pursuit. Sora was not afraid of anything or anyone; he was the apple of the nest's eye. Everybody loved and doted on him, more so than his less smiley brother. Sora was the cute, happy-go-lucky twin, mischievous at times but never outright bad. Roxas, though adorable, was the more serious of the two, less inclined to childish pranks. Sora grinned as he scooted under a pair of legs and glanced over his shoulder at the speck of blonde hair in the distance which he presumed was Larxene. He continued his running and just before he had time to turn his head back to watch where he was going, he ran headlong into something rather painful and ended up on his rump. His bright blue eyes widened as he looked up further and further to meet the cold aquamarine gaze of Riku. The older boy faery had his arms folded across his chest and was gazing sternly down at the little brunet. Sora, recognising this as the end of the chase, quickly stuffed the whole honey cake he was still holding into his mouth, cheeks bulging out like a squirrel's.

Riku's foot began to tap at the sight of his infuriating 'soul mate' plunging what appeared to be a slightly misshapen cake into his mouth. The wheels in his head began to turn as he heard an angry shout from what sounded like..."Sora, you didn't steal one of Larxene's cakes...did you?" Sora's eyes widened further, attempting an innocent puppy dog pout which was ruined as a few crumbs pattered from his mouth followed by a slight trail of escapee honey. Riku growled softly and reached out one hand to yank Sora to his feet and pin him securely to his side. Of all the Fae in the surrounding nests, Larxene was by far the scariest and she wasn't swayed at all by the high status the males held in the nests. In the kitchen, she was queen and all had better keep that in mind or face her wrath.

"Riku, that little dung beetle has been raiding my kitchen...AGAIN!" Larxene screeched. Riku glanced around for help and realised that the room had cleared, like most sensible Fae would have waited in range of Larxene's temper...

"I'm sure Sora...has something to say for himself." Riku said lamely, manoeuvring the little brunet from his side and holding him in front of him, just in case he had to whisk the boy away from danger. If Riku's hair hadn't already been silver, he would do be going grey by now! Clearing his mouth of his pilfered treat, Sora licked his fingers clean meticulously, ignorant of the anger boiling up inside the female faery.

"I don't see what the problem is." Sora said expansively. "It was for mine and Roxas' birthday feast, so..._technically_ that means that the food is all ours. We're being very kind and letting everyone share it." Riku groaned under his breath and squeezed Sora's shoulders warningly, only to be ignored. "I was simply checking that they were good. Sometimes the honey gets burnt and tastes bad." Sora slowly began to become aware of the sparks spitting from Larxene's eyes. "Uhm, not that your honey cakes are _ever _bad, Larxene. You're the best chef in all the nests!" Sora went for flattery in hopes of escaping the woman's wrath. Larxene growled viciously and took a step towards Sora, causing Riku to pull the child a step back. The silver haired male desperately tried to plan an escape route when a pale hand with slender fingers landed on Larxene's shoulder. Riku blinked as his sister's best friend wrapped his free arm around the woman's waist and rested his chin down onto her shoulder.

"Larxene is the best chef EVER." He cooed into the female's ear. Riku watched in complete bewilderment as Larxene's whole posture melted and she transformed into a giggly teenager.

"Oh, Axel!" she tittered, making Riku wonder why he didn't affect the females that way. "You are such a charmer!" Larxene was now batting her eyelashes despite the fact she couldn't actually see Axel since he was behind her. A small tug at his trouser leg made Riku half turn to see Roxas desperately trying to get the other two males to safety whilst Axel distracted the now smiling Larxene. With one glance back at Axel who flashed a wink their way, Riku followed Roxas, dragging Sora along beside him.

Axel returned to the twins' room half an hour later looking rather flustered. He paused to high five Roxas and then turned to glare at Sora. "If you _ever_ make me flirt with that dragon again I will personally make sure that you and Riku never get _any_ eggs." The red head growled before plopping into a rocking chair with a sigh. Sora gaped at the older male and shrunk back against Riku who, despite being unhappy with the little faery, comfortingly wrapped his arms around him. Roxas scurried across the room and hauled himself into Axel's lap and wriggled around until he was comfortably positioned with his cheek pressed against the elder's chest. Axel smiled down gently at the blond head and coiled his armed protectively around him. Roxas made a purring noise of contentment and let his eyes slip shut as he listened to Axel's heart beat. After a few minutes silence, Riku hesitantly decided to halt Axel's brooding.

"What happened?" he asked, settling onto Sora's bed and pulling the abashed boy up beside him. Axel huffed and spluttered for a second before grumbling deep in his chest, making Roxas look up at him in shock and giggle before returning to his original position. Axel rubbed one hand over his face and ruffled the hair at the back of his head uncomfortably.

"She flirted shamelessly." He began, only to be interrupted by a helpful Riku.

"You kinda started it." He reminded him before clamming up at the glare he received.

"To save _your_ little rebel." Axel reminded the silver haired faery who had the decency to look abashed. "Having flirted shamelessly she then proceeded to grab my ..." Axel glanced at the children and back at Riku who supplied one mouthed word beginning with 'D' and ending in 'K' which caused Axel to cringe and rapidly shake his head. Riku frowned for a second before mouthing 'A S S' to which Axel scowled and nodded.

"I'm sorry Axel." Riku apologised before nudging Sora who started guiltily.

"I'm sorry too. Thank you for saving us." Sora mumbled.

"No problem little guy. But now, Xion's going to appear any moment with our party clothes! I can't believe you two are one today! You both had a bath this morning right?" Axel said, talking to Sora when he noticed Roxas had collected a fistful of his tunic into his hand and was clinging to him as he slept peacefully. Sora pouted.

"Yeah, Mother Aerith made me wash my hair." He whined.

"Good, last time I saw you it looked like you had half a sloe stuck in it." Riku quipped with a slightly disgusted expression. Sora glowered at the floor and muttered something that sounded like 'I was saving it for later'.

"Hi boys!" chirped Xion as she stepped into the room carrying an assortment of clothes hung over her arm. Her eyes took in the snoozing Roxas and she eyed Axel speculatively. "Axel, your stench has made poor Roxy pass out, please go and have that bath I drew for you this morning." She held the green gaze of her best friend who snarled something best not repeated and carefully woke Roxas up and then left, snatching his set of clothes from Xion as he stormed past her, muttering. Riku watched, mouth agape.

"I don't know how you do it sis!" he exclaimed, helping strip a struggling Sora down to his warm underclothes and tug on his clean party garments as Roxas placidly changed his own clothes.

"Axel simply knows that if he doesn't bathe himself, I will be forced to intervene, and he knows from experience that he only gets drenched when I have to help." Xion grinned in a feral manner before shy little Roxas piped up.

"Aunt Xion, why does Axel not like water?" he asked, struggling with his soft leather boots. Xion came over to help and smiled.

"Axel's magicks are fire based, so water and the cold make him uncomfortable." She explained softly before Sora's excited voice reached her ears albeit muffled by the tunic Riku was currently trying to pull over the boy's unruly spikes.

"Today we're going to find out what our magicks are, right?" he asked, looking up in concern at Riku when no answer was given. "Right!" he squeaked before settling down at Riku's warm smile and slight nod. "I bet my magick's going to be something super uber awesome cool!" he crowed. Xion looked at Roxas in concern when the boy showed no interest in the mention of their magicks but rather seemed to draw in on himself a little more.

One of the things the Fae had not forgotten was how to celebrate. There was always a big to do when a new faery came into being, on winter and summer solstice and when the rare male Fae turned five. The females didn't really change much when they aged, they grew from childhood into adulthood. A male faery went through a period of adolescence between the age of three and a half and four and a half. When he reached physical maturity, a male faery was completely mature in the physical sense. And since he did not need to rear the young he produced, emotional maturity wasn't overly important. The other major celebration in all faeries lives was their first birthday. On the eve of their first birthday a faery would come before his or her nest and the Queen would reveal to all gathered what the Fae's magicks would be. The female Fae had magicks of their own, but they tended to be subtle. All Fae had the ability to nuture life and encourage new growth in the plants and animals around them. And each had their own special skill. Xion had the ability to create copies of any object up to an animal. She could make 'clones' of inanimate objects and plants and in some cases insects. But small creatures were too complex a being for her to create a replica of. Larxene had a certain control over the weather. If it were important for the Fae of her nest to fly somewhere during heavy rainfall, she could encourage the rain to miss her sister, allowing them to fly comfortably. She could heat or cool a room by altering the atmosphere but only on small scales. Riku's magick was odd and he rarely used it. He could manipulate shadows, animating them so that they could interact with physical objects. He didn't see much use in his skill since he was a very strong and practical faery, and when one of his shadow puppets had terrified Sora at a very young age, Riku had not used them since.

When an acorn bloomed, the child it birthed had greater magicks than usual. Axel had control of fire, being able to create and manipulate fire without being burnt. It was an important right of passage for a Fae child to learn what their magickal ability was because from that day they had to strive to learn to control their power and understand it so that they could use it to aid the nest and the earth. But first, there was a party. Sora was dressed in a red tunic with black leggings and soft yellow boots. He entered the gathering room beside Riku who was dressed splendidly in a white silk shirt open over a black sleeveless vest top and dark blue trousers with shiny black shoes. Xion followed them in a pretty pale pink gown and dainty slippers of the same colour. Axel came next, holding a slightly trembling Roxas' hand. Axel was dressed all in black with delicate embroidery licking up his legs and arms depicting flames in red and gold. The tall faery looked down at Roxas and smiled reassuringly at the blond beside him. Roxas was dressed in black and white. His tunic was white with black squares sewn onto it in an attractive pattern. His leggings were black with light blue and white squares decorating the seams and encircling his ankles. He felt uncomfortable with all of the attention, eyeing Sora enviously as his brother lapped the attention up. They walked the length of the room to the cheers of the gathered Fae and ended up at a long table. Sora's eyes twinkled excitedly at the sight of the table but dimmed when he noticed there was no food. After greeting the Queens, the birthday boys were whisked off in the arms of excited females and forced to dance.

After two hours, Axel and Riku went off in search of the younger males, deciding to save them from the enthusiastic women. Axel quickly found Roxas and politely disengaged him from the clutches of a short, squat female with stormy grey eyes and tufty silver hair. Hoisting Roxas to sit up on his shoulders, Axel began to scan the room for the others. Suddenly Roxas grabbed two handfuls of Axel's hair and tugged with his left hand, directing the elder boy's gaze across the room where a ring was forming around two dancers. "That's Sora, I think he's dancing with one of the newer girls. Her name's Kairi...Riku's sulking." Roxas leant down to talk in Axel's ear, but before he could move or react, a bell chimed and the gathered Fae scrambled to find their designated seats. The feast was about to begin. Riku, Axel and the birthday boys joined the Queens and Xion at the head table. Roxas was already blushing uncomfortably, feeling the weight of many eyes on him and could onlt be thankful that Axel, Xion and Riku were all sat between him and Sora since he just knew the gluttonous brunet would cause him no end of embarrassment with his awful table manners. Larxene had prepared all of their most favourite dishes and Roxas soon forgot about Sora making a fool of them. Riku was keeping tabs on the small boy beside him and discretely nudging him whenever he began to wolf his food down too quickly or started to chew noisily with his mouth open. Conversation had swelled in the hall and Axel was regaling Roxas with funny stories and jokes to keep the blonde's mind off of the impending ceremony. It seemed to be working, Roxas was smiling and responding politely, completely distracted right until the bell rang once again and the two Queens walked up onto the platform located at the head of the hall, each holding the hand of one twin. Roxas went suddenly silent and white, his blue eyes widening with apprehension, despite the encouraging wink flashed his way by Axel.

Sora went first, pricking his thumb with a silver pin and allowing two drops of his blood to fall into a silver bowl of water. The water rippled and seemed to consume the blood, not changing colour to begin with. After a few seconds a wavering rainbow mass rose from the bowl and hovered before the Queen holding Sora's hand. Both of them gazed into the opalescent cloud for an ageless moment before Sora let out a crow of delight and danced around in a circle. The queen was blinking in shock before turning to the gathered crowd. "Sora has a strong heart, his special magick will be to become human but retain his ability to cast spells." The crowd murmured, what use was that going to be other than protecting the nest from large predators? Roxas, watching his brother strut around happily felt a light tug at his hand and reluctantly allowed himself to be led to the bowl which was replaced with a clean one and filled from a silver fluted pitcher. The blond boy scrunched up him face as he pricked his thumb and let his blood fall into the bowl. He let out a soft sigh when nothing went wrong and wobbled his way across the room and into Axel's welcoming arms after the Queen announced, "Roxas is a being of goodness and light. This is his area of Magick, may he find it to be of use to him." The crowd hooted and cheered and Roxas noticed the female Kairi shyly ask Sora to dance again. Riku did not say anything and simply watched with a blank expression as the two younger Fae went off and danced. But Roxas didn't care right now other than to feel a swift pang of sympathy for the silver haired faery. He felt drained, relief sapping the strength from his limbs and leaving him to rest peacefully in Axel's embrace, humming contentedly as the redhead ran his fingers through his hair and spoke to him in a soft, soothing voice.

"I'm so proud of you."

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******A.N -** You have no idea how much I struggled with the ending. I haven't completed either of the PS2 KH games and haven't even seen any of the other ones I've heard about. Oh, other than that 3 hundred and something days one...I do own that. But got distracted when I figured out I could play as Axel...mmmmmm *drool*

Ahem, anyway. I hope their fancy clothes suites them and that their powers kinda make a bit of sense. I'm tired. If you find any awful mistakes or anything, do not hesitate to kick me awake and I'll change them. But right now I just wanna sleeeeep. Next chapter should be out within the next 3 weeks, tops. If not...throw pillows at me or summat! I love you guys! :D

_Dreamy xxx (struggled to spell my name then! oops hehe) xxx_


	4. Chapter 3

**A.N -** I'm sorry guys. I know I've become more lax with review replies and updates. All I want to do since going back to college this year is sleep! I promise I'm trying to write as often as possible but I get home, eat and then pass out comfortably under a p[ile of blankets on my bed. It's getting cold over here, autumn (fall) is so pretty though! :)

**Disclaimer -** I do not own the characters portrayed in this story. They've been outright borrowed or sometimes inspired by characters from Disney and Square Enix (once again, I'm sorry if I spell the name wrong, you guys know who I mean!)

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"Come on Roxas, hurry up!" Sora called, tugging insistently at his dawdling brother's hand.

"Sora, you know I don't like doing this, why can't you ask someone else!" Roxas sighed, not impressed by the events he was going to be put through.

"Because!" the exuberant brunet faery squeaked happily, pulling his brother out of the nest and into the air. The blonde's wings were a gorgeous blue with glittering gold filaments twisting through. Sora's were a soft, pale blue and mottled with a fluffy looking white colour. It felt good to fly outside, despite any dangers they may face and Sora pulled Roxas along behind him until they were out of sight of the nest. "I'm running out of time. So are you! We've got about two weeks until the eggs are laid and then one more week until we turn five!" Sora settled onto a moss covered rock and giggled as his feet sunk into the soft vegetation.

"Why do we have to come so far out? Sora, last time you nearly killed yourself!" Roxas grumbled, still unhappy and choosing to ignore the idea of time slipping away completely.

"I want it to be a surprise. And I did _not_ almost kill myself!" The brunet scowled and shoved Roxas in the direction of a low hanging branch nearby. "Go sit up there, out of the way." He said and watched as the petit blond flew across swiftly.

"You did nearly kill yourself Sora. It may have been your own hand, but you'd still have been squished." Sora pouted at the memory of his failed attempt of becoming human, only his hand had changed and promptly had become too heavy for him to hold up. Roxas was right; he nearly had smooshed himself under the weight of his own hand.

"Well, that's not going to happen this time." Sora muttered as he tried to gather the image of himself as a human in his mind.

"Who do you want to surprise anyway?" Roxas asked curiously. "Riku's already seen you make...your thumb and your nose bigger." The faery sat above the rock smirked at the memory of his brother falling over because of the large nose that had appeared on his face. Sora still had his eyes closed in concentration, but muttered a barely audible answer.

"Kairi." Roxas rolled his eyes. Ever since their first birthday, Sora and the redheaded female had become closer friends than even Axel and Xion. Roxas was uncomfortable with his brother's obvious obsession with the female since he knew how much the relationship hurt Riku. The silver haired faery tried to hide his feelings about the younger male's relationship with Kairi when Sora was around, but Roxas had seen the haunted expression in the aquamarine eyes. If a male needed to be truly happy to create eggs, could this depression harm Riku in time?

As his mind whirred with uncomfortable thoughts, Sora had found a certain calm within himself and was feeling his body begin to tingle as if filled with the sensation a limb experienced when cut off blood flow was restored. His eyes opened wide and focussed on his brother, but as he opened his mouth to say something, the world around him blew inwards, or he exploded outwards. Gasping, Sora kept his gaze locked on the branch where Roxas was perched and shivered as his wings retracted into his back. When the world had stopped moving, Sora shuddered his whole body and grinned at the branch. "Roxas, I'm hum...Roxas?" The blonde haired faery was not there. "Roxas?" Sora looked around wildly. "Ohhh, did I smoosh you? Roxas!" The burnet began to panic and was almost in tears when suddenly, Roxas appeared on the branch with a weird mix of emotions evident on his face. Sora read shock, fear and amusement as well as a degree of smugness. "You're tiny!" he cooed, reaching out with a finger towards Roxas. The blond let out a shriek and leapt backwards off the branch.

"Keep your freakishly large self away from me Sora! And, just so you know, you look like you're seven months old again!" Roxas cackled and almost fell from the sky with the strength of his laughter. Sora's face crumpled in confusion. "Here...I'll try and show you." Roxas plopped back onto the branch and stretched his hands out wide above his head and created a disk of reflective light. Sora gawked at the display of talent he hadn't known Roxas had possessed and peered down into the mirror. He had taken on the form of a human five year old, so technically, he was a child again rather than being three weeks away from adulthood.

"Urgh, so I do." He grumbled and watched the mirror fall apart in a twinkle of sparkles. "Roxas, I didn't know you could turn invisible." He pointed out, disgruntled that his brother had been hiding his powers from him.

"You're not the only one who's been practicing magick." Roxas pointed out; then grinned. "To be honest, I didn't know I could turn invisible either. You kinda scared me and I reacted on instinct. Took me a while to figure out what I'd done and how to reverse it." Roxas shrugged and watched Sora nod his understanding before turning a gleeful pirouette.

"Kairi's going to be so impressed!" the brunet crowed happily before exploding inward and back into his usual form. He landed with a bump onto the mossy rock and shook his head to help reorient himself. Roxas smothered a groan and fluttered down to his brother's side.

"Come on, Axel's going to start getting stroppy unless I get back soon." Sora rolled his eyes but let his brother pull him to his feet.

"I don't see why you care so much." He grumbled as he was tugged into the air and led back to the nest.

"Because he's my soul mate." Roxas said simply. "He makes me happy."

"ROXY!" came a loud cry, warning the blond to brace himself before a streak of red barrelled its way into his arms. Rocking back on his heels slightly, Roxas caught Axel and hugged him gently. "I missed you." The redhead mumbled into the blond boy's hair before drawing in a deep breath and sighing out contentedly. Roxas smiled and nuzzled against Axel's chest for a moment until he was released.

"Sora dragged me out to practice his magick." He said, he didn't keep secrets from Axel.

"Oh?" the redhead said, raising an eyebrow as he pulled Roxas down onto the sofa beside him. "What happened this time?" Roxas shifted around until he was tucked against Axel's side and idly began to run his hand across the redhead's slightly distended stomach. Axel smiled contentedly, his panic over now that Roxas was by his side again.

"He actually managed it today. He took the form of a human at the age of five, so he was still a juvenile; it was really cute to see him so young again. He really scared me at first though and I kinda made myself invisible." Axel looked down at the blond in surprise.

"Really? It's been a while since you found something new you could do with your magicks." He commented.

"Yeah, it was weird. I think I kinda bent the light around me or something. Here...I'll see if I can do it again." Roxas' brow furrowed adorably and Axel smiled. Then, suddenly, he was gone. The redhead's heart rate immediately began to speed up and his eyes widened in both panic and surprise. Although he could still feel the warmth of Roxas against his side and the boy's hand on his stomach, Axel decided he didn't like the boy hiding from him. Before he could voice his unease, Roxas was visible again, hugging the redhead tightly. "It's ok, I'm still here, calm down. It's not good for the eggs." The younger boy soothed until Axel relaxed again.

"That was kinda cool..." Axel said, looking rather sheepish of his over-reaction. Carrying the eggs had put his hormones out of whack and he'd been having mood swings a lot as well as over-reacting and being much more clingy than usual. Lucky for him, Roxas liked to snuggle.

"It's ok, I won't do it again." Roxas reassured his mate and smiled as Axel's fingers drifted into his blond hair and began teasing through it. After a while sat in comfortable silence, Roxas quietly voiced a question that had been pestering him for a while. "Hey, Axel?" he asked.

"Hmmm?" the redhead hummed and continued his ministrations.

"What does it feel like?" The redhead hummed again, this time questioningly. "To carry eggs." The blond reiterated, glancing up at the male beside him. Axel played his own fingers across the slight swell in his abdomen and sighed thoughtfully.

"Well, to begin with I just felt hungry all the time, for some of the weirdest things too." They both chuckled as they recalled some of the male's more outrageous demands. "And it's disturbing because I know they make me behave unlike myself. But then, it's nice, they make me feel..." the redhead frowned for a second, "full, I think. And happy. They're a bit uncomfortable now, like I have a bunch of pebbles sat in my stomach, but I think I'll feel a bit lost without them."

"Oh." Roxas murmured sleepily and nodded to himself. "I'll still be here with you." He smiled and nuzzled against Axel sleepily. The redhead smiled and yawned. "Bed time?" Roxas said, grinning. Axel nodded before standing. "Goodnight Axel." Roxas said, receiving a sleepy wave in return before he left the room and headed for his own room and dove into his nest with a contented sigh.

As the days passed, leading up to the time Axel was due to produce his clutch of eggs, the redhead got progressively cranky and snarled if anyone other than Roxas entered the room he'd declared his nest. Rather than produce the eggs in his own room, Axel had deemed it necessary for them to have their own room and was fussing over making a nest. Roxas was run ragged, collecting random items and swathes of cloth for the redhead and prayed fervently that he would produce his clutch and calm down as he brooded over the eggs. One morning, a few days prior to Axel's 'due date' Roxas was making his morning trip to bring the redhead breakfast. He entered the 'nesting room' and found Axel hunched over in the large nest in the corner and cooing over something cradled in the shelter of his folded legs. Frowning in concern, Roxas took a step forwards but was halted by a wall of flames. "A...Axel?" he stammered, frightened now. "Axel? Are you ok?" he shouted when no response was given.

"Roxy?" Axel's voice sounded confused and the screen of flames wavered before dying. Roxas scuttled across the room and eyed the redhead in concern before he noticed a faint blue sheen coming from whatever the other male was sheltering in the hollow between his legs.

"Are you ok, Axel?" Roxas asked, crouching beside the nest and watching the bright green eyes slowly come to meet his gaze. Axel let out a low hum and shifted so Roxas could see the pale blue egg he'd been hiding. Roxas' eyes went wide and he beamed at the other male before cautiously climbing into the nest and hugging him. The egg was small enough to be able to fit in the palm of Roxas' hand. It was a pale blue colour, not as brilliantly coloured as a robin's egg and had an opalescent sheen. Axel touched it lightly with the tip of his forefinger and laid his head against Roxas' shoulder.

"It kinda hurt." He said softly, eyeing the first of his eggs with a proud expression. "But it was worth it." The redhead turned his gaze up to meet Roxas' once more. The younger of the two was shocked to see tears glistening in Axel's eyes. "We're going to be fathers!" he crooned, sighing happily as he rested against Roxas again. The blond blinked.

"We?" he asked hesitantly, unsure what the redhead meant. Yes, he understood that they were soul mates, but further than that...he's assumed that he'd understand the bond between himself and Axel once he was an adult. Axel reached up and planted a gentle kiss on Roxas' cheek and smiled contentedly.

"I love you Roxas. You're the reason I could make these eggs, you're as much their father as I am."

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**A.N -** Soo, you guys, I was wondering if you have any little requests for the story? Something you would like me to try to add in? I thought it might make things a bit more interesting for me. lol, perhaps it'll help me concentrate. Anyways, thank you for the reviews, I promise I'm going to reply to them now! And, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

_Dreamy_ xxx


	5. Chapter 4

**A.N**** – **Sorry! Oh, so sorry! I know I've taken a long time to update, and may even have neglected to respond to some reviews. I am a bad bad authoress! ¬.¬` BUT! I've been attacked by random snippets of random stories and the ever increasing stresses of college. I'm deeply apologetic. I hope this chapter is good enough to make up for my drop in productivity. Eek

**Disclaimer**** –** I don't own them. I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own very much at all really, but I really would LIKE to own at least an Axel plushie or something! Lol.

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Axel remained broody until all fourteen of his eggs were laid. During the few days that this happened, he only let Roxas and Xion into his nesting room, and only Roxas was allowed into the nest itself. Axel only admitted these two after having recently laying an egg, he usually had a couple of hours between each egg and would shoo everyone away if he felt another was on its way. He said it was embarrassing but Roxas thought the redhead liked to gloat over his new egg before anyone else. This was, after all, the only time he'd spend so much time with them, even after they'd hatched. The eggs were all different colours, shining and opalescent. They ranged from the original blue to a startlingly bright orange. Some had speckles or stripes and others were a swirl of multiple colours. Axel had arranged all of the eggs in a bundle at the centre of his nest, wrapped snugly by a long narrow scarf-like thing that Xion had knitted for him. However, one of the eggs had been moved to the side. It was a rosy pink colour with pastel green speckles. Axel had wrapped this one up snugly too, but kept it isolated from the others. When asked, he said he didn't know why it was by itself, but it needed to be where he'd put it. Xion wondered if thirteen of the eggs were males and the pretty pink one was the only female. Roxas worried that perhaps the pink egg was dead. Axel got anxious when he thought about the time he'd have to leave his clutch to the care of the females. Reluctantly he let the queen in to visit them as long as Roxas was there too.

The queen stood at a respectful distance and smiled benignly down at Axel who was sat in the nest. Roxas had skittered over to place a reassuring peck on the redhead's forehead and then removed himself back over to stand with the queen. "They are beautiful, Axel." The queen said in a soft voice, as if she were looking over sleeping babies rather than eggs, or stood in a sacred building. Axel's tense expression softened slightly.

"Thank you your majesty." He said demurely, stroking a finger tip down the curve of the first egg, anxiousness creeping back into his posture as he thought about leaving the eggs to the inadequate care of females. Roxas watched his elder counterpart carefully, ready to remove the queen in the circumstance Axel decided to throw a ring of fire about himself and the eggs again.

"Roxas tells me that you believe you have finished laying?" the queen asked, watching the depressed looking male with a slightly quirked eyebrow. He nodded, keeping his eyes from making contact with hers. "Then I should ask the nest mother to assign the eggs a carer then." She mused; missing the panic stricken look Axel's green eyes flashed her way. Before his mate could do anything, Roxas quickly ushered the queen out of the room and pulled her aside for a one on one chat.

"Your Grace, I am aware that it is believed that males have no interest in their eggs once they have been laid. However, in Axel I have noticed a strong attachment to his young and a genuine distress at the idea of leaving them entirely to another's care." Then queen held out an imperious hand.

"Nonsense child, Axel is quite welcome to visit the eggs and the resultant young ones as often as he cares to." Roxas resisted the temptation to snap at the queen as she continued. "It has always been that the male lays the eggs and the females care for them." The small blond rolled his eyes surreptitiously and drew in a deep breath.

"But how can you be sure?" He asked hotly, ignoring the querulous glare aimed his way. "We have forgotten so much of our past. It could be that only in the last century or two have males lost interest in their eggs. Or it could be an aspect of Axel's nature or Magicks that he feels drawn to care for the eggs himself. He is a very loving being. There is the chance that it is simply because of the winter months that Axel wants to remain nesting. He's never liked the cold and the nest is warm and the eggs distract him from his dislike of the weather. Chances are that when Spring arrives, Axel will be happy to leave the nest to the females."

The queen opened her mouth to interrupt and Roxas ploughed on, tears chocking his voice slightly. "Look, all I know is that my mate is hurting. Whenever we talk about him leaving his nest, he goes quiet and gets upset. He's worried that the eggs will not be left where he's put them. He is frantic over the idea of them being moved but doesn't know why. When I attempted to shift one slightly he actually threw me across the room. He apologised right after and was almost in tears, but in that split second I felt that I was lucky he hadn't just burnt me to a crisp. Your Majesty, I don't want Axel to hurt. If that means letting him stay with the eggs, I think it will do no harm. If the nest mother could be spared from the younglings, then I believe Axel would be willing to let her enter the nest over time and perhaps we could wean him away from them. But please, don't remove him forcibly." Smiling fondly at the anxious blond, the queen laid a comforting hand onto his shoulder. Roxas looked at her through watery eyes and sniffled slightly.

"Your caring nature becomes you young Roxas. I will not remove Axel from his eggs, but I will need you to encourage him to allow others into the room. Even if he is inclined to care for the hatchlings, he will not be able to look after twelve at once and Aerith, the nest mother, had asked if some of the younger mothers could be a part of the new young ones lives from egg to the time they are ready to leave the nursery. I assure you that only one at a time need be in the nest itself and they will be in the presence of Aerith at all times. I will make sure that everyone knows the eggs are not to be moved under any circumstance." Roxas beamed at the woman, mouthed the words 'thank you' before bursting into the nesting room and barrelling into Axel's lap to tell him the news.

After a handful of days, Axel was quite content to allow Aerith into the nest with him and the eggs, and even let other mothers into the room whilst he watched over them and tried to figure out if they were going to be good carers for his eggs. By the time Roxas and Sora's fifth birthday arrived, Axel had carefully observed each mother in his nest and had decided that as long as either he or Aerith was there, then he was willing to let the younger mothers spend time in the nest. Aerith, smiling fondly, assured Axel that she wouldn't leave the nest for anything and sent him on his way to get ready for the ceremony. Xion forced him into his first bath in weeks, despite his muttering about bathing in winter being unnatural. She then wrapped him in fluffy towels and sat him on the floor in front of a stool so that she could gently tease the tangles from his hair and tame it back into a tail, rolling her eyes when it dried into spikes. Axel scowled when he was presented with a long robe of soft forest green material, sparkling with golden thread. "What is this supposed to be?" he demanded, plucking at one of the sleeves which opened like the mouth of a calla lily. "Why have I got to wear a dress? Where are my trousers!" Xion rolled her eyes.

"It is a robe. You can wear any trousers under it, no one can see. Roxas turns five today, Axel! He's becoming an adult and will be properly recognised as your mate. You need to wear something suitably occasional. And now, if you don't mind, I need to get dressed myself. You have ten minutes." And with that, Xion was gone.

Fifteen minutes passed to find Axel sat on the floor with a disgruntled look on his face as Xion attempted to tame his hair. The redhead really couldn't figure out what the females had against his hair. It was as if his unruly spikes personally infuriated all the women in a five metre radius. And if he wasn't fast enough to dodge them, he often found himself in this position, fingers or combs or brushes tugging through his hair and making him wince. Axel hated it. Then again, when Roxas teased affectionate fingers through Axel's hair, the elder male could almost be heard to purr. As his thoughts drifted to his little blond counterpart, Axel allowed his eyes to close and fixed an image of the younger male in his mind's eye. Today they would officially become mates; no one would be able to contest their pairing. At this thought, the image of Roxas chewed on his bottom lip in concern. Axel frowned, wanting to ask what was wrong, but he figured it out himself. Sora. The brunet twin had been causing his brother a great deal of consternation. Riku worshipped the boy, but Sora barely paid him any attention, taking the silver haired faery for granted as he spent nearly his entire day amusing Kairi and tending to her wants. Axel and Roxas had both tried to show Sora he was making a bad decision. Kairi made the exuberant male smile and filled him with energy, driving him to various feats of insanity which seemed valid at the time. In choosing the girl, Sora was causing Riku to become a shadow of himself. Sora couldn't see the pain and sorrow he was causing, but everyone else could, females flocked to the attractive cyan eyed faery, but Riku looked right through them, interacting only when necessary. Roxas, Axel, Xion and Sora were the only exceptions to Riku's silence. The male had never been one to talk in great amounts, he tended to reserve his energies for those close to him, but he'd gone from reserved to introverted and antisocial. Axel heaved a great sigh and tried to push any bleak thoughts from his mind. Today was about Roxas...and Sora, he supposed, but mainly – at least in Axel's eyes – this day was Roxas'.

Axel was seated beside Xion on a comfortable cushion, aware of the delicate female's vicious glare every time his hands moved from the neatly folded position in his lap. Axel was known for running his fingers roughly through his hair when he was nervous and Xion was not going to allow him half a chance to ruin all the effort she'd put into tidying his lock. Because, Axel was nervous. The queens hadn't arrived yet, nor had the twin boys. Axel wriggled his toes anxiously, wanting to leap up and hunt the nest for his Roxas, what was causing the delay? Was someone hurt? A hand landed on his knee, making Axel startle and smother a yelp. Glancing to one side, his eyes were met by Riku's, the other male patting Axel's knee comfortingly. "It's about Sora's Magick, he can't demonstrate it in the nest and they're trying to figure out how to do it. Lots of them are scared about travelling outside, even if only for a little while." Riku rolled his bright cyan eyes and smiled reassuringly at his friend. He had travelled a great deal during his lifespan, and the only time he'd come against any danger was when he flew through a nesting magpie's territory, right past the bird's nest. Never had Riku flown faster or his heart beat harder. Except when Sora had first revealed to him. Riku didn't understand a lot of the Faeries' fear of _outside_. They germinated seeds and spread magic throughout the trees they nested in, but only a select few braved leaving the nest to plant seeds and bring their magick to the life outside their nests. When Riku next glanced up at Axel's face, he was discomforted to find the fiery faery's face glowing an angry red, but before either he or Xion could soothe the redhead, his voice bellowed out of him at a painful decibel.

"FOR NATURE'S SAKE! STAND AT THE WINDOWS IF YOU'RE SCARED!" he roared, sending flickering flames to flitter like butterflies at the attending Fae until they cleared the hall in haste.

Once again seated beside Xion and Riku, this time on a moss covered branch, Axel beamed happily as he ignored the glares being directed his way from a multitude of directions. Standing not too far away on a fallen tree trunk was Roxas, blue eyes sparkling with both suppressed mirth and frustration at Axel's previous actions. On Roxas' left stood the queen, on his right was Sora and on his brother's other side stood Riku's queen. This point in the ceremony would have both budding adults display their current grasp of their Magick. Sora shooed everyone away to a safe distance from himself as he prepared to transform. Many of the gathered Fae had never seen a human before and Riku was slightly uncomfortable at the idea of Sora suddenly displaying one to them. Even if he did take on a juvenile form, he would still be several times larger than any of the Fae, even if he were a _tiny_ child. When the brunet did transform, Axel blinked at the human child in shock. He hadn't expected him to be quite so cute! Riku's brow furrowed as the gathered onlookers drew back further into the nest, the air filled with the sound of their simultaneous gasps. Following commands being shouted up at him by one of the queens, Sora sang an old song about the ancient Fae Courts. His voice was light and clear and reverberated around the trees in crystalline purity. He then skipped around in a circle, jumped around like a lunatic and turned a cartwheel before popping back into his normal form, grinning proudly despite the murmurs sounding out around him. Roxas looked nervous as he set himself up in plain sight of his gathered nest mates. His eyes sought out Axel and, upon meeting the adoring green gaze, a degree of calmness seeped into his lithe body once more. Flashing the redhead a tiny smile, Roxas stretched out his arms and made with the magick.

At once a ball of glowing white light burst into existence above Roxas' head, glowing in all the colours of the rainbow. Beaming up at the light, Roxas sent little gleaming mirrors of light to dance around it, each mirror reflecting a different colour and shining hope and happiness towards the gathered Fae. Axel found himself bathed in golden light and basking in the affection Roxas held for him. Roxas displayed his Magicks, disappearing from view, drawing all the light from his surroundings into a tiny pinprick held in the palm of his hand, cutting said palm with a blade of concentrated light and then healing it again with a soft green glow. Axel watched in awe as his soul mate dazzled all gathered and still continued to think of more to show them. After he'd convinced a fluffy cloud to form with general Fae magick, Roxas had it drop its burden on the plants below. But instead of rain, the cloud drizzled golden liquid which resulted in bright flowers springing from the ground, glowing with rainbow light as they turned their heads to follow Roxas' movements. Axel's heart swelled with pride, gone was the more reserved twin, not noticed by the nest particularly. In his place stood an ethereal being, glowing in his Magicks and the knowledge that he had a purpose and a love. When the blond boy...well, man now really, nodded his head to the queens and the nest, Axel couldn't help but to barrel his way into his arms and twirl Roxas around with a merry laugh. The pair were pronounced to be mates, each promising to do all in his power to bring love and joy to his partner and the celebrations began in earnest. Food was already laid out in the hall and everyone was dancing. Much like the twins' first birthday, but this time the females were much more hesitant to ask Roxas to dance with them. Axel was standing close by his side, frowning when people approached and only grudgingly allowing a select few of the more innocent females dance with _his_ Roxas. Sora, on the other hand, was easy game. Riku was sat brooding in one corner and really, no one was afraid of Kairi. Poor Sora found himself twirling females around the hall for hours on end, unable even to pause for a bite of his birthday feast. Finally Riku took pity on the pouting brunet and rescued him. Sora beamed up at the elder male and sat down with him to eat. However, at one point he turned to call Kairi over and when he looked back to Riku, he was gone.

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**A.N**** – **Yeah, once again, I'm sorry. I can't even promise the next chapter will be out soon because I'm a little stuck with what's happening next. I know where I want the story to go, but I'm not sure how to get there. *sigh* Hopefully I'll be able to figure it out, or at least post up some of the other stuff I've been bullied into writing down. I swear, my brain is a big nasty school bully. But instead of beating me up, it forces me to write random snippets of stuff that I'm never sure are good or not. Lol :/


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer -** I don't own anything really, I borrowed the heffalumps and woozles from Winnie the Pooh. I borrowed the characters from Sqeenix and Disney.

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As Roxas had predicted, when the sun shone hard enough to tease the slumbering seeds into sending forth questing shoots of green, Axel's obsessive need to be with the eggs began to ease off. By the time the daffodils and snowdrops were contentedly bobbing their cheery heads in welcome to the spring, the redhead was rarely seen within the nest at all, popping back to eat and sleep and once a day to croon over the eggs. Where it had been Roxas' task each morning to bring his mate breakfast and cajole him out of his slumber, their roles now were reversed. Axel bounded into their now shared room, placed their breakfast on a little round table and rolled back into their nest to prod and tickle and kiss his grouchy blond haired soul mate into wakefulness, green eyes glowing happily as they shared breakfast and set out to aid the plants around the nest in reawakening. Xion often joined them and Sora was never far off with Kairi in tow. One faery, however, wasn't seen except for the big meals when a new sister was born. No one knew where Riku went these days, he'd finally distanced himself from Sora and, though they were worried about him, Roxas, Axel and Xion were glad that he had. Sora doted on Kairi who, though a sweet girl, was very demanding in nature. Riku couldn't cope with being ignored by the one he loved any longer, and he'd finally reached the point that pretending he was OK was causing him more pain than he could deal with. And so the silver haired faery stopped socialising, he didn't join the workers outside nor did those blessing the nesting tree see him. The fact that he came to greet each new sister to the nest was the only thing that let everyone know that he had not left the nest completely. Life went on a usual, but small things were noticeably different. The stress being put on Sora and Roxas to lay a clutch of eggs was enormous, but as the weeks passed, neither twin showed any signs of imminent brooding.

Riku's new, secretive, activities found him spending his days in an old magpie nest, long abandoned but still warm and easily protected from the weather by a canopy woven of sticks coated in moss. From his hidden perch, Riku watched the others working to help the plants blossom and grow in the spring sunshine. And once they'd all returned to the nest to eat and sleep, Riku stole out of his new hiding place and formed dozens of little shadow creatures to plant the seeds he'd germinated with his magic over the course of the day. As the little shadow creatures with glowing yellow eyes and twirly antennae set about their work, Riku concentrated on bolstering the weaker plants with his magick, caring for those that were ill or had been trampled by animals. The male was at a loss about what he should do. It was clear to him that Sora was not interested, but the mere thought of travelling away from the small brunet was enough to make Riku's body tremble and his stomach tie itself in knots. If he couldn't leave the boy, he would have to drive Kairi away...but then, who was he to deprive his soul mate of happiness and his chance at laying eggs? Riku let out a huff of depressed air and fluttered back to his magpie nest, silently instructing his shadow puppets to bring him something to eat. The creatures could melt into the ground and move along the dark spaces in the main nest unnoticed and soon had infiltrated the empty kitchen. Having gathered a bowl of soup, some bread and a couple of dried apple slices for their master, the creatures turned about and headed off to slink out of the door when it opened to reveal a young faery. The creatures all melded into the dark spaces of the room as the faery frowned. It was male and made the shadows tremble in their hiding places.

"I know you're here. And that you are listening. I want you to let Riku know that we miss him. And to be careful, I saw him out there earlier and there was a fox...I made him go away, but..." at this the male sighed softly. "Tell him I'm sorry Sora's so dense. That _Kairi_ isn't his soul mate, Riku is, Sora just can't see that yet. He loves new things, he gets bored easily. I think he just assumes Riku will always be there, I understand if he can't be, it must hurt. Just, ask him to say goodbye if he does decide to leave? Please?" With those final pleading words, Roxas reached up and snagged a cloth bag filled with some of Riku's favourite foods and placed it on the ground beside the shadowy depths hidden under a cupboard. Smiling wistfully he then collected two bowls of dried grapes and disappeared off to spend his evening with Axel, coiled around one another in their nest. Once they were certain that the creature of light had left, the shadows crept forth cautiously, gathered the small male's offering to their master and slunk back out of the nest and into the night. Once the shadows relayed the message they'd been give, Riku was finding himself glad he was alone as silent tears streamed down his face. He wished he could just up and leave, distance himself from Sora and that _Kairi_ girl. Was Roxas right in saying that Sora would get bored of the female? It had been years since they met and they were still seemingly joined at the hip. Would his little brunet ever realise his mistake, the fact he'd chosen the wrong person to lavish his love and attention on? Heaving a mournful sigh, Riku tucked his food supplies away and curled into a little ball, allowing his puppets to fade away as his attention turned to memories. Memories of Sora, a little bundle placed almost solely into his care, he missed the days that the younger male had been dependent upon him.

Early spring melted into longer, warmer days and the fae anticipated summer's approach eagerly. Riku still remained in his lofty perch and watched the others frolic in the sunshine. One day, the sight of Sora slinking away from the others gathered amongst the flowers, for once unaccompanied by Kairi, drew Riku's attention. Flitting amongst the tallest tree branches, the silver haired faery ghosted Sora's movements, following out of sight as his little reluctant soul mate suspiciously evaded all others and soon relaxed as he passed out of the nest's range. Frowning at the younger male's more relaxed movements, Riku deduced that where ever he was going, Sora had been before. After a period of travelling, where even Riku's stronger wings began to ache about an hour after Sora had landed and continued on foot with the occasional fluttering spurt, the smaller faery halted in a clearing. Riku, relieved, perched himself nearby but out of sight on a tree branch and watched in confusion as Sora changed into his human form. The boy still looked round faced and child-like, but held a certain grace in his movements that most juveniles did not possess. Wondering why the male felt the need to travel all this way to practice his Magick, Riku had to stifle a groan as Sora began walking once more, heading out purposefully. Sighing resignedly, Riku followed, pondering on the boy's mysterious actions. It was the sound of loud voices that alerted Riku to trouble and he froze momentarily before straining to close the gap between himself and Sora, to warn him of the presence of humans. But before he could half the distance he'd maintained between them, Sora flopped to the ground and began to sniffle loudly, knees drawn to his chest and his sniffles became low sobs and morphed into full blown wails. Riku was astounded and barely had the time to hide as heavily booted feet announced the presence of two fully grown human males.

Sora's teeth flashed as he heard the two males approaching, hiding his face against his knees the young faery-turned-human boy continued his wailing as his heartbeat sped up. A few weeks prior to his current situation, Sora had eavesdropped on a small gathering of muscular human males and had been distressed to find that they were talking of clearing out the wooded area to make way for a new ... mall, or something. Planning carefully, Sora had deduced the best way to find more out would be to interact with the humans on a personal level. Knowing he was undoubtedly the cutest human child out there, the faery didn't doubt his abilities to create a believable story and hold his human form long enough to draw some important information from the humans. Having followed the pair around for a couple of days, Sora had watched them map out the area and had formed an idea of their daily whereabouts in his mind. After drawing the courage he needed to face these ill monsters, Sora had formed a shaky story and gone out looking for them. The two men reminded him of himself and Roxas. One was brunet with greyish blue eyes and one was blond with blue eyes to match Roxas'. This was one of the reasons Sora had chosen to talk to these men in particular. The blond man was kindly, chattering to the other about the squirrels and birds he'd spotted. Sora was pretty sure he'd be able to charm the blond man. And indeed, when he sensed a being larger than any he'd ever come so close to in his life crouch down in front of him, he peeked up through wet lashes (sniffling loudly for effect) and met the bright blue eyes of the golden haired man.

"Hey there little 'un, what's the matter? You lost your mommy?" he asked in a gentle singsong voice, ignoring the snort that came from his companion. Assuming 'mommy' was human baby talk for 'mother', Sora let his bottom lip quiver as he shook his head slowly from side to side, wide eyes fixed innocently on the man's face. "Then what are you doing out here all on your own?" The blond man looked confused and slightly concerned. Sora drew in a deep breath and filled his voice with the quaking tremulous sound quality of one about to burst into a fresh bout of tears.

"My...my puppy ran away! Mommy said I had to look after him special and he ran away and...and I can't find hiiiim!" Sora forced his voice into a high wail at the end and smirked inwardly as the brunet even took a step towards him and the blond laid a comforting hand on his knee.

"I'm sure he'll come home when he's hungry. This isn't really the best place for a little boy like you to be by yourself." The brunet man's voice rumbled. Sora switched his watery gaze to the grey eyed man and scowled.

"I'm not scared of the woods. Me and...me and Riku come here all the time. Riku's my puppy. We come here to play and hunt heffalumps and woozles. But mommy says that I might not be able to play here much longer." Drawing his mouth into the biggest, most adorable pout he could muster, Sora widened his eyes innocently. High above him, gaping at the little brunet's resourcefulness, Riku heart had swelled to three times its usual size at the fact Sora had used _his_ name in his fabricated story.

"Your mommy's right, the woods won't be here much longer, but there'll be a new arcade and ice cream shop for you and Riku to visit instead!" The blond haired man's voice was cheerful. Sora shot him a panicked look and swiftly folded into his story.

"What? Why? Me and Riku _like_ the woods. Heffalumps can't go to the arcade and woozles don't like icecream." Sora was guessing that his imagined animals would not be allowed in such places, whatever they were. "And what about the birds and squirrels! Where will they go?" Bright, watery blue eyes beseeched each man imploringly. They glanced at each other before the brunet spoke up.

"Look kid, we don't think the woods should be chopped down either, but it's not up to us. Maybe if you got the boys and girls and teachers at your school to all sign a petition and get it into the government before Christmas, then maybe you could save the woods." Sora blinked at the man in bewilderment. What on earth was a school, or a petition or a government for that matter? Deciding that the person who would be in charge enough to make such big decisions must be the queen, and it didn't really matter what a school was because Sora didn't know any other human boys and girls, the boy scrunched up his nose and concentrated on asking the most important question before he had to make his escape.

"A pe... pet- Peeertifon?" he asked, eyebrows dancing comically as he concentrated.

"Petition kid. It's where you get lots of people to write down their names because they all want to save the woods...here, me and Leon'll start you off." Watching is bemusement as he tried to formulate a plan to escape the men, Sora focused on the blond man tearing a leaf out of an empty book and writing 'Cloud Strife' on it before passing it to the other man who scowled. "Go on Squall, write on the go...sh uh, look it's a butterfly!" Cloud halted his cursing to point upwards at a fictional butterfly and grinned as Sora's head shot up to find it. While the boys attention was diverted Cloud made some insistent gestures and mouthed some rude words at his friend before Leon grudgingly wrote down his name and shoved the paper into Sora's hands.

"There kid, two names already. Now how about me and Cloud take you back to your mommy?" Sora's eyes widened as he shook his head vehemently.

"N...no, I gotta go find Riku." He stammered nervously, clambering to his feet and folding the paper up as small as it would go before stuffing it into his pocket.

"It's really not such a good idea for you to..." Cloud was cut off by the sound of high pitched barking. Sora brightened at his good luck and bounded off as quickly as possible towards the sound of a dog barking, shouting a garbled thanks over his shoulder. As he barrelled into the woods and out of sight of the two human men, Sora thanked his lucky stars that some random dog had chosen that precise second to bark. It was then that something bumped onto Sora's head, causing the boy to yelp and fall to the ground. When he blinked and shook his head to clear his vision of his hair, Sora was met by the angry gaze of Riku stood, hands on hips, stood on Sora's chest.

"SORA! What do you think...No, what _were_ you thinking! Talking to _humans_? Don't you know how dangerous they can be? Sora, I could have _lost_ you. They could have taken you away. And when you had to change back, they would have killed you!" Riku's cyan eyes were glowing like lightening in his anger. "Sora, I can't believe you did that, no warning. We wouldn't have known what happened to you! I've seen humans catch a butterfly and pin it through its body just so they can look at it close up. They burn all the plants from the ground just because they want to. They leave little bits of their sickness around where animals get caught up and die in them. They don't think like we do. They want to cut down our woods? You should have let the queens know so that they could relocate the nests. Sora, I thought I was going to lose you. I thought..." Sora's blue eyes widened in shock as Riku let out a heart rending sob and collapsed to his knees as he cried. Cautiously the little boy sat up, cupping his hands for the faery to sit on and very gently held him up to his face. After watching Riku cry for what could have happened, Sora gently laid his cheek against the faery and sighed softly.

"I'm sorry Riku. I just...everyone thinks Roxas' Magick is good and useful, but they're scared of mine. I thought that I could help by finding more out. And if I get everyone to sign the per...petition and go to see their queen, maybe we won't have to move." Sora felt the wavering breaths emanating from Riku quiver against his cheek. The faery's voice was defeated.

"Sora, you're just a child to them. They wouldn't listen. And if you waited until you were even close to being an adult in their eyes...that would be over a decade and we'd have to have moved." Sora pulled back and eyed Riku solemnly.

"I've got to try Riku."

When they arrived back at the nest, Sora having carried Riku on his shoulder the whole way to rest his aching wings, Roxas and Axel were waiting for them, holding hands and observing the world around them with anxious eyes. Sighing gently, Sora handed Riku the tiny piece of folded paper to carry and switched back into his natural size, warily flying up to face his brother. Where he had expected a similar reaction from Roxas as he'd gotten from Riku, he was surprised to be enfolded in the biggest hug imaginable and, if he ignored the disapproving glare from Axel, Sora felt happier than he had in a long time. This puzzled the faery and he tried to work it out as he got scolded from three different directions. He'd thought Kairi was his mate, she made him laugh and feel needed, but knowing that Riku, Roxas and Axel all cared for and worried about him lit a warm feeling inside him. After being scolded, Sora explained himself properly to the three other males and then they all went to talk to the queen about what Sora had learnt. They discussed the possible courses of action open to them and decided that for now they would work on signing the petition, even if it meant struggling to make human sized paper and writing unnaturally large so that it appeared that humans had signed their names. Sora gazed at the lists of names, from his and Riku's nest and came to the decision that he had to help, no matter the danger. He informed the queen that he would deliver the petition to the humans. A fuss was made, echoing Riku's original protests of Sora's youth. However, in the end it was decided that Sora would go with Riku who refused to allow his soul mate to go into danger alone. Roxas made Riku a charm that would allow him to become completely invisible to everyone and Sora one that allowed him to see his companion. The brunet was waved off by nearly the entire nest, even Larxene pressed huge honey cakes into his human hands where they appeared bite sized but still tasty. But, even as he scanned the crowds for the third time, Sora couldn't spot Kairi amongst his well wishers. And so, with a heavy heart, Sora let Riku settle onto his shoulder and left the woods with a list of names to save the woods.

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**A.N - **I found I couldn't just not write an A.N full stop, so, um...Thanks for all the favourites and alerts. If you could find the time to write your favourite part every few chapters, or...your least favourite part I guess, I would be very thank full! **_Dreamy xxx_**

**_P.S. _**_It has come to my attention that although this is declared an AkuRoku fic, Sora and Riku are going to play a bigger role than I'd originally anticipated. Hope that's ok with you guys!_


	7. Chapter 6

**A.N**** –** hi guys! I'm heading a bit into the unknown with this chapter. Eek! A review from Rocket-ship-Romance made me think about the girl Fae, surely they would want relationships too, right? The way I've figured it is, the nests really think of themselves as family. They're all sisters and share a lot with each other as it is. They don't need to have sexual relationships and (remembering the fact they've forgotten a lot) they just don't even think of each other that way. But, never fear, a character is entering this chapter to start shaking things up. So...

**Warning ****–**This story contains boy on boy love AND girl on girl love – I think.

**Disclaimer**** – **nope. I still don't own anything. *sigh* However, I have been hinting that I would like Axel for Christmas...you think my mum will get him for me? Lol my brother thinks it's a bit of a 'tall order' hehe.

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Kairi was furious. She had not been informed of Sora's adventure or his expedition to talk with the humans. And all because she was resting up in the infirmary, recuperating after having a tear in her wing healed. Stupid thorn bushes. Faeries' wings were very delicate and full of muscles but easily torn. It took a couple of days for the injured wing to heal, even with the aid of magick. Kairi was absolutely fuming that Sora had gone off on some stupid adventure with _Riku_ of all people. The very Riku that Kairi had been striving to keep away from Sora for years now. The little redheaded female thrived on attention and, being Sora's potential mate not only got him to lavish attention on her, but many other females paid her notice simply because she spent so much time with a male. Where Xion had pushed all of these admirers away, Kairi encouraged them; making up exaggerated tales of Sora's doting on her. And now he was gone, off for goodness knows how long, with Riku who was bound to worm his way back into the brunet's affections. The female stomped a delicate foot and scowled down at the seed she was holding in her hands, ready to plant. It simply wasn't fair. When the two males got back, Riku would have Sora hanging off him again and Kairi would have to play second fiddle. Well, that was most definitely not going to happen. She wasn't going to give Riku the pleasure of knowing how upset she was to be dropped like an old toy. She would act as if she didn't care. Kairi poured her frustrated energy into her magick, germinating the seed she held. Except, the negative energy reacted with the magick to turn the seed black and she screeched as it fell through her fingers like mould covered ashes. As she screwed up her button nose and wiped her hands off on the dew damp grass away from the mess the seed had left, an unfamiliar voice piped up from behind her.

"You know you're meant to plant seeds right? I mean, I know the nests don't interact much these days, but I'm pretty sure that fact is the same across all nests, not just at mine." Kairi spun around to deliver a scathing retort to the female who'd decided to make fun of her but stumbled to a halt when her eyes met the most stunning pair of eyes she had ever seen. They were a gorgeous shade of violet and Kairi struggled to move her gaze from them to take in the rest of the faery. The girl had short dark hair, held back from her face by a black headband with white lining. Her clothes were unusual, all dark colours rather than the more earthy tones Kairi's nest usually used. The girl wore the shortest trousers kairi had ever seen; they hugged her bottom and then simply stopped before even descending a couple of inches down her thigh. These were a dark grey. Helping to cover most of the remainder of her legs were two black socks ending just above her knees with a few white stripes. Her boots stopped just short of the knee and were a dark tan colour. Kairi's eyes moved back up to take in the stranger's torso. She wore an open, dark grey vest, with a black strap dangling from the right pocket over the top of a navy blue top with unusual white floral designs. On her right wrist she wore a white band and on the other hand was a grey, sock-like thing without the toes and ended halfway up her arm. Kairi could not help but gape at such an unusual person. The faery grinned at the redhead and used her forefinger under the girl's chin to gently close her mouth. "You're cute. My name is Yuffie!" she beamed. Kairi blinked at her, a faint blush dusting her cheeks.

"My name is Kairi. Nice to meet you Yuffie." She said shyly, all thoughts of Sora and Riku abandoned. She felt drawn to this Yuffie character more than she'd been drawn to anyone else...ever.

The two girls were soon sat germinating seeds together and talking as though they had been friends forever. Yuffie had revealed that she didn't fit in anywhere really because of her disdain for supposed 'tradition'. She had been travelling a great deal since spring started and had even observed the humans for a while. Above all, Yuffie believed that the Fae had formed these ridiculous codes for living because of the vast amount they had forgotten. "It makes us feel safer when we have all these rules to live by." She explained. Kairi shared her feelings about Riku and Sora, feeling much better for having gotten it off her chest. "Wow, you have males here?" Yuffie asked, eyes gleaming. Kairi nodded.

"Yeah. Four. Axel and Roxas have a clutch of eggs already and I bet Roxas will lay another soon. And then...Sora and Riku…will probably be a couple by the time they come back." Yuffie eyed the redhead thoughtfully.

"They all paired off with another guy, huh?" she asked. Kairi pouted, feeling miserable as tears welled up in her eyes. "Hey, hey, don't worry. You'll find someone else!" Yuffie said, hugging the younger faery.

"There are no other males around as far as anyone can tell. I'd have to wait for Axel's eggs to hatch, and even then there might not be any boys." Yuffie's lips pursed thoughtfully.

"Maybe it doesn't have to be a boy." She said, causing Kairi to look up at her in confusion and shock. "Well, I know that most animals only ever pair with a member of the opposite sex to have babies, but that obviously doesn't apply to us. And humans do it; I've seen male couples and female couples. They all seemed happy. I even saw a male couple _pretending_ to be a male and female couple. Humans are weird." Kairi thought this over for a second.

"But what would be the point? Two females cannot lay eggs. So, why pair off with a girl. That's what couples are for, isn't it? That's what you said about the animals, they pair up to have babies."

"Ye-es, but it doesn't _have_ to be like that. Humans do lots of things normal animals don't. They don't just mate for offspring; they do it for loads of reasons. Like, to show their love, for fun, to relax and ... That's what it would be like, to be with a girl. You'd be doing it because it felt nice to have someone that close to you. Someone to hold and cherish. Don't you think that would be nice?" Yuffie's gorgeous eyes fixed onto Kairi's own and the redhead found her breath catch in her throat. She couldn't form a single word as nameless tingles shot about her body when Yuffie's hand sought hers. _Would_ it feel nice? She felt happy right now, but they weren't a couple, were they? They'd only just met. "I think it would." Yuffie murmured. A part of Kairi wondered when the other female had drawn so close to her, but her mind shut down as the dark haired faery brought her lips to brush with Kairi's, moving ever so slowly and gently, as if she really did treasure the redhead. Yuffie bought up a hand to cup Kairi's cheek, tracing the girl's soft skin with her thumb to help the younger one relax. She hadn't exactly intended to kiss her...well, at least, not at that particular moment. But Kairi's pretty blue eyes had been so wide and innocent that Yuffie had found it impossible to resist. She'd always wondered why only males got to form romantic relationships really. It didn't seem fair that the females missed out on this, it felt...nice, and _right. _Their moment was ruined by a shocked voice.

"Kairi!" Both girls drew apart, Kairi dazed and blushing, Yuffie scowling at being interrupted and fighting the urge to pull the younger female against her possessively. However, when she followed Kairi's gaze and was met by the shocked blue and green stare of two males, Yuffie grinned a little sheepishly and stood up to greet them. Kairi slowly copied the other faery and nervously nudged at the ground with her toes. "Uh...hi there?" Roxas said, eyeing the unknown female curiously whilst gauging Kairi's reaction to the other female.

"Hi! My name's Yuffie!" she chirped, beaming at both males. She admired the tall redheaded male who had his arm wrapped securely around the shorter blonde's waist even as he goggled at her in shock.

"Hello, Yuffie...Uhm...welcome to the nest?" Axel seemed slightly shell shocked by what he had just witnessed. The girl smiled and nodded politely. "Kairi, we...we just wanted to check your wing was better...uh, we're going to sit with the eggs now...bye..." Kairi waved meekly and watched the two males fly back to the nest at high speeds, Axel all but dragging Roxas by his wrist. The pair didn't speak a word to each other until they had shooed all the eggs' mothers from the nest and settled into it themselves, Roxas in Axel's lap, back against his mate's warm chest. "Roxie, they...they were kissing, right? It wasn't just me?" Axel said slowly, resting his chin atop Roxas' head, arms wound tight about his soul mate. He was startled when Roxas began to chuckle. "Roxie?"

"Oh, Axel. I'm so glad. If that Yuffie can keep Kairi away from Sora...Riku will be able to show him how much he loves him! And Kairi won't be able to steal him away again and then they'll be able to have eggs!" Axel blinked as his mate wriggled around to face him and beamed up at the redhead. "Anyway. You can't expect _us _to be the only ones to kiss." He smiled before pressing his lips against Axel's. The older faery hummed happily and moved to deepen the kiss only to be stopped by Roxas pulling back. "Not in front of the children!" he scolded teasingly, eyes shining with amusement and happiness.

Sora was hiding at the edge of the woods, intimidated by the sheer lack of greenery outside the shelter of the trees. He sat on the ground and watch Riku alight on his raised knee. "Riku...I'm scared. What happens if they lock me up? Those guys, Cloud and Leon, seemed to think I should have been with my mother. Perhaps human children are not allowed to be apart from their parents."

"Sora, we don't have to go, you know? I mean, it might be nice to relocate. It'd give us lots to do, finding a new home and making a new nest."

"But how would we move the eggs safely? And the little ones either can't fly or can't fly very far. I don't want us to move, I want the humans to understand they're hurting the Earth, or at the very least, leave us alone." The little boy sighed miserably and offered Riku his hand to lift and place him gently on top of his head. The silver haired faery smiled, thinking it cute that Sora seemed to forget he had wings. Once settled in the surprisingly soft spiky brown tresses, Riku encouraged the boy into the unknown world of humans. The little boy immediately assumed a completely lost expression. This world was so big, everything towered over Sora and he could not even begin to imagine how scary everything would be from his usual size. He even felt Riku's hands burrowing into his hair as if seeking comfort. Walking as fast as him little human sized legs will carry him, Sora gazes around anxiously as he looks for a building that the human queen would likely live in. "Ri-ku...Where do you think the queen would be?" The faery sat atop the boy's head hummed thoughtfully.

"The biggest building?" Sora pointed a finger up towards a block of flats. "No, a big building that looks nice. You know, lots of decoration. Humans like decoration."

After the pair had walked for a long time, well Sora walked - Riku sat on his perch and took in their surroundings, the boy's little legs were tired. Having encountered more and more people as the buildings grew taller and closer together, Sora had found himself dodging and weaving amongst the forest of legs. Many people had watched him in concern but his swift movements had carried him away from anyone who had wanted to intervene. The second he saw a bench set in a children's play area, the boy ran as fast as he could and leapt onto it with a huge sigh of relief, watching the children play. Riku abandoned his perch to flutter before Sora's face for a bit. "I'm going to look around quick. Don't move please, Sora." He said sternly, pecking a quick kiss to the tip of the boy's nose and flying off. Sora blinked in surprise, having gone cross eyed to watch the kiss happen, but found himself too tired to contemplate things intently. Stretching and yawning, Sora curled up on the bench and, using his arms as a pillow, drifted off into a light slumber. Riku flew up high, avoiding the turbulence caused by the odd metal 'technology' devices carrying humans around at high speeds. His eyes scanned the buildings thoughtfully until he spotted a man and a woman dressed in fine clothes and lots of shiny metal decoration entering a beautiful old building that stretched itself outwards instead of up. Eyeing it thoughtfully, Riku sped back to Sora. He paused for a while to smile at the adorable boy sleeping in a curled up heap on the bench before landing beside his head. "Sora! Sora, wake up!" he called, tugging the boy's hair and prodding at his cheeks until dazzling blue eyes blinked open wearily. "I found the queen. She has a partner and they went into a building called a 'Library', but we have to go quickly! They might not stay there for long." Sora hurried to his feet and followed Riku carefully, making sure to cross the roads in a large group of people who seemed to know what they were doing.

Upon entering the 'Library' a smiley man ushered Sora into a large room and directed into the 'Children's Section'. Frowning to himself momentarily at being called a child, Sora realised that he _was_ a child and pottered down the aisle between hulking shelves of books and tiptoed into the much brighter, more colourful room that was proportioned to suit the needs of the young. The room held a horde of beanbags and other squishy seating forms and was filled with a mass of children, all slightly older than Sora and mostly attended by an adult. It was Riku, flying up high to see over adults' heads, who spotted the person they had come to see. Landing on Sora's shoulder he whispered instructions to the boy who proceeded to wriggle and squirm his way straight to the front of the crowd and plop himself down at the queen's feet, beaming up at her adoringly. The woman smiled briefly and continued to emphasise the importance of recycling and not littering. Riku dozed off until he was shaken from his perch as Sora scrambled to his feet and bobbed a hasty bow. The other children and their parents had all left and now was his chance to speak. "Your Highness, please...may I speak to you?" the boy asked before noticing the splayed form of Riku on the ground. "RIKU!" Sora squeaked, crouching down to scoop the male up off the floor and receiving a 'Sora you idiot' glare from the faery in his hands and a slightly wary stare from the queen. "Uhm..." Sora blushed as the woman crouched in front of him and peered into his cupped hands.

"And who's Riku?" she asked softly.

"Uhm, he's my...um...best friend." Sora said hesitantly.

"Is that so? And what does Riku look like?" the lady questioned, voice soft and gentle as many people tend to use when talking to the young or slightly deranged.

"Weeelll. He's like...really pretty." Sora said, looking down at Riku who was turning an interesting shade of pink. "He's got long silvery hair and these really nice wings and he's..." Sora was cut off by a startled question.

"Wings? Like, an angel?" She asked, eyeing him with slight astonishment.

"Uhm. Yes?" Sora looked at the woman quizzically, having no idea what an angel was, before turning his attention to save the woods. "We came to find you because...Riku lives in the woods that you have ordered to be chopped down." Sora turned on his charm and pouted with adorable sadness.

"The woods?" she asked and nodded when the man who was standing nearby wearing similar decorations to her whispered into her ear. "Oh. Those woods. Well..."

"Your Majesty. I have a petition signed by lots of people asking you to please, please; _please _let the woods stay there. We all like them very much and not even ... ice cream is enough to make up for what we would miss." Sora was proud to have remembered that word and carefully placed Riku onto his shoulder before digging into his pocket and handing over the pieces of paper covered in names. "Please. We love the woods a lot. We'd be really sad and stuff if you have it chopped down."

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**A.N - **Sooo, I hope everything makes sense. I think I'll make it clear now that the lady Sora's referring to as the queen...is not a queen at all. lol. That will be addressed in the next chapter. Uhm. Any thoughts? Questions? Suggestions? I'd love to hear from you! :)


	8. Chapter 7

**A.N - **OH MY GOSH! -does crazy dance of excitement- Rocket-Ship-Romance has drawn me a wonderful giftart for this story! The link is on my profile and I will post it in the next chapter where the drawing's character should be making an appearance! I'm so excited!

**Dedication** - Rocket Ship Romance, this one...and the next one is for you! Thank you for my beautiful picture, I lurrvee it so very much! -huge hugs-

**Disclaimer -** The characters do not belong to me. Honestly, if they did...there would be countless free videos online of Akuroku, SorRiku and Zemyx pairing yaoi animations to name but a few.

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Sora wasn't quite sure that what he was doing was such a good idea. The library had a little cafe located upstairs and Sora was sat across from the queen and her male swinging his little legs back and forth nervously. The queen had asked him if he would come and have a snack whilst she looked at his petition and asked him a few questions. After discussing the safety factors with Riku quietly, and disregarding the older fae's warnings in the face of cake, Sora had agreed to stay for a little while. His eyes widened to the size of saucers when he was presented by a tall glass of icy cold white milk from a cow and a large slice of delicious looking cake. Seeing that the queen was pouring over the petition with the man, Sora took a nibble of the cake and started bouncing excitedly. Peering at the queen cautiously, Sora very carefully picked up the glass and took a sip of the white drink. He looked at the waitress with wide eyes and motioned her closer to whisper a request, watching all the while as the man with the queen removed the lid off of his bottle of hissing brown drink. "Can I please have a small plate and maybe a clean one of those?" he asked shyly, pointing at the lid from the man's bottle. The waitress looked slightly confused but was obviously enamoured by Sora's big blue eyes and she smiled before nodding and going in search of his requested items. "You've got to try some Riku. It's better than those honey cakes Larxene made!" The boy chewed on another morsel of the cake, deciding whether it would be OK for the faery's digestive system. The cake didn't seem to have anything bad in it. It tasted of banana and carrot with a bit of orange and was filled with big juicy dried grapes. Sora had learnt from experience that some human foods made his tummy hurt if he ate them when in faery form. The waitress gave the boy his requested items and beamed at his polite thanks before bustling off to continue work. As Sora laid out a small portion of his cake and a coke bottle lid of milk out on the plate, the queen finally drew her attention to him. The two adults watched silently as the boy gently lifted something from his shoulder and placed it onto the plate. He then frowned at the plate.

"Sora, as much as I would love to try some of the cake...those humans assume that you are talking to an imaginary friend and were the cake to start disappearing I expect it would concern them." Riku said, sadly eyeing the cake hungrily. Neither male had eaten anything since Larxene's giant honey cakes. Sora pouted at Riku before raising his eyes to meet those of the queen as she spoke.

"Sora...is everything OK?" she asked, eyeing the boy and the plate he was directing his pout at with curiosity.

"Oh, yes. I'm sorry. It's just; Riku hasn't eaten for a while but he's ... shy about eating in front of you. You don't mind if he doesn't sit at the table, do you?" After placing the plate down onto the chair beside him and hiding its contents under the table cloth, Sora turned his attention to the queen. They had lots to talk about.

It turned out that the lady was not the queen. "Sora, the queen lives all the way in London. My name is Ariel and this is my husband, Eric." Ariel was a famous author, specialising in children's stories but also wrote books for adults too. She had a great deal of money and started up many foundations and helped fund many projects geared towards protecting the earth and the sea. "People forget that the Earth is alive. It breathes through the trees and the sea is important. The more trees we chop down, the more rubbish we throw into the sea and dispose of carelessly, the harder it is for Earth to live. And if the Earth dies, we will too." Sora gazed up at the woman with bright eyes and twitched slightly as Riku landed on his shoulder and stared at the woman too.

"She...knows." Sora whispered to Riku. Ariel looked at him solemnly.

"Sora. I think I can save the woods. But I will need your help. And Riku's too. Will you help me?" Sora's head tilted to one side as he met Riku's gaze and smiled when he received a slow nod.

"We'll help as much as we can. But we have to go home soon." Sora said hesitantly, all too aware of the possible dangers of staying in his human form too long, let alone of the risks he was taking with the chance of letting his secret slip.

"That's ok hun. First of all...I'll tell you what I'll do. I can take your petition and add more names to it. I have contacts enough to influence the government and am in fact related to Ansem. He's an important man in the government. This will slow down the building process and I will get the media interested in saving the woods. Would your school be able to help?" Sora shook his head, feeling sick. He was tricking this lady but he really couldn't tell her the truth. "Okay...well. Would it be alright to write about you and Riku?"

"You want to write a story about us?" Sora asked, big blue eyes sad but lighting with curiosity.

"The boy and his angel out to save the woods." Ariel said thoughtfully as Eric drew out a pad of paper and a pencil. "Would you describe Riku, so Eric can draw him?" Sora's nose wrinkled in thought.

"Um. Okay." He started ignoring the interest Riku was showing. "He's not a little boy like me. But not as old as Eric. He's got long silver hair that kinda falls into his face a lot. He's always brushing it out of the way or huffing at it, but he doesn't like tying it back. He's got really pretty eyes, they're blue and green all mixed up into a kind of icy colour. He's got a delicate face. But it's not girly. And he's got nice muscles so that when he holds me I feel safe." Ariel frowned slightly at this, the little boy describing the 'angel's' muscles as 'nice' was odd.

"But I thought Riku was the one you can carry in your hands." She said, Sora nodded.

"Yeah, but he's not always littler than me. When we're in the woods, he's usually bigger than me. He sometimes holds my hand when we walk. And he holds me when I'm sad or scared." Sora went misty eyed at the memories of him and Riku together when he was very small before rousing himself enough to finish his description. "And, his wings are black like shadows but they've got a silvery sheen to them that looks like stardust."

"And what does he wear?" Sora blinked at the first words Eric had spoken aloud.

"He likes blue clothes, kinda purpley blue. And black. And trousers, he likes trousers better than shorts or robes." Sora informed Eric, watching Riku fly across to peer at the image being drawn of him. His eyebrows rose slightly in surprise before he returned to Sora and settled atop his head.

When Eric showed Sora his quick sketch, the boy asked politely if he could change a few bits. The man had looked concerned for his work but Ariel had gently removed the pencil from his grasp and handed it to Sora. The first thing he did was rub out the eyes. They were all wrong. "Riku..." he said pleadingly, tapping the table before him and requesting the faery pose for him. He tried three times to draw Riku's eyes, using really gentle lines with the pencil but still didn't get them right. Sighing crossly, Sora regarded Riku who was eyeing the image of himself thoughtfully.

"Draw me with a blindfold on. A black one." Sora did as requested after looking at the male in confusion. As he fixed the drawing's hair to fall around his face properly, Riku explained. "When I was learning to control my Magick, I had to wear a blindfold. If I didn't have my eyes covered, I created shadows all the time. The light hurt my eyes too. But once I figured out how to control my power, I didn't need it anymore." Sora nodded thoughtfully and regarded the main issue with the image. Riku's wings, instead of being insect-like, resembling those of a butterfly, were large and spread out behind him, covered in feathers. "Leave them. I think that is what an angel's wings are supposed to look like. And maybe me being an angel is more acceptable to the humans than a faery. I think they make me look sexy." Riku added, making Sora blush before he nodded, shaded the blindfold a little darker and then passed the pad back. Eric quirked an eyebrow, impressed at the five year olds skill. Never had he met a child so capable of the delicate work Sora had just produced. Before he could comment on it, Sora had slid off his chair and scooped up his 'angel' from the table. Eric wasn't sure that they should be encouraging the boy's delusions, but he knew that once Ariel had an idea, nothing he could do would stop her reaching for her goal.

"Thank you for the cake and milk, but I really need to go. Um, if you need to talk to me...uhm..." Ariel smiled.

"We'll leave a note pinned to the big oak tree in the clearing in the woods, where the picnic tables are." Sora beamed and nodded enthusiastically before waving and dashing off.

When the two males returned to the nest, Riku ended up carrying Sora to his nest. The little brunet was worn out from using his magick for such a long period of time, not to mention all the walking he'd done. The silver haired faery tucked the smaller male into his nest and went to let the queens know what had happened before heading to get something to eat. The cake had been good, but Riku – unlike Sora – didn't have an endless sweet tooth. Kairi sat at one of the dining tables, shyly watching Yuffie from across the table. No one had ever kissed her on the mouth before, not even Sora. She had always thought it looked...nice, in an odd way, when Roxas and Axel kissed, but kisses between her sisters tended to be a quick peck to the cheek in greeting or farewell. And usually only if you were particularly fond of said sister. It was like a hug, something affectionate but ordinary. Yuffie's kiss had been nothing of the sort. It had filled Kairi's veins with tingly bubbles and she'd felt her body heat up. And watching the other females making a fuss over the new visitor made Kairi burn with rage and...were she able to recognise it in herself, jealousy. Everyone loved Yuffie; the girl was bouncy and friendly, unusual and simply easy to be around. Axel was the only one who tended to avoid her and he went an amusing shade of red which really didn't suit him with his hair colour when he was forced into the presence of either Kairi or Yuffie. And if the pair happened to be _together_ when Axel came across them, he started babbling and then hared off as fast as he could, calling for Roxas in a hilariously desperate voice. It was on one of these occasions (the fourth so far that day) that Axel barrelled into someone at the door and fell back onto his rump, whimpering "R...R...Riku?" The silver haired male grinned and helped his sister's best friend back to his feet, curious as to what had spooked the pyro so much. Kairi noticed Axel's failure at fleeing the room and leapt to her feet at the sight of Riku. The silver haired male pulled his lips back from his teeth in a snarl, glaring at the female that had tried and succeeded for so long to keep Sora away from him. Axel wrapped slender fingers around Riku's arm whilst trying to stay behind him, away from Kairi in the pretence of restraining the other male.

"Riku, where's Sora?" Kairi demanded of the male who was trembling with suppressed rage. Before he could respond, he heard Axel make a pained sound, green eyes focussed on an unusual looking female who was bouncing her way over to them.

"Hey Kai! Who's this? Sora? I'm Yuffie." The female spoke, winding an arm around Kairi's shoulders as she beamed at Riku. The redheaded female looked up at Yuffie and all tension seemed to melt from her. Riku raised a delicate silver eyebrow as Kairi leant into Yuffie's warmth and he slowly began to get an inkling as to why Axel was cowering behind him. In response to Yuffie he nodded pleasantly.

"Riku, actually. It's nice to meet you Yuffie, but I need to get something to eat before I turn in for the night...Axel?" he said slowly, having tried and failed to shake the clinging male from his arm. A loud and frustrated sigh caught everyone's attention and heralded the entrance of Roxas.

"Axe..." he began.

"ROXY!" Axel wailed, switching his clutches from Riku to the suddenly weighed down Roxas. The small blond awkwardly patted Axel's back and squinted up at Riku.

"Uhm, everything ok?" he asked, slowly sinking under Axel's quivering mass. Riku snorted in amusement and created four shadows to collect some edibles for himself and Sora before prying Axel at least mostly off of Roxas. "Thanks."

"Yup, everything's fine. Just need to grab some food before bed. I'll help you get Axel calmed down first though. Uhm, nice to meet you Yuffie. Oh, by the way...you might want to keep an eye on Kairi, she's a bit..."

"OKAY!" Roxas cut in this time. "Let's get Axel up to the eggs, that'll calm him down." He stated, grinning at Yuffie nervously and proceeding to drag Axel and Riku off.

After quickly informing Axel and Roxas about his and Sora's adventure amongst the humans and admiring the eggs briefly, Riku met up with his shadows and returned to Sora's nest. Sora, who was sat up in his nest watching the door, shrank away from Riku and the shadows, still unsure about the creatures with glowing yellow eyes. Riku smiled apologetically and ushered the shadows to place the plates of food on the table before melting away. "Sorry, Axel went into a bit of a panic and I had to help Roxas get him to the nest." He explained, dragging the table across the room to stand in front of the nest. To his surprise, Sora reached his arms out to him and made grasping motions with his hands until Riku had wriggled his way into the nest beside the younger male. Sora, after Riku was settled, snuggled against him, resting his head against the elder's chest and closing his eyes at the sound of his slightly elevated heartbeat. "Sora? Are you...okay?" Riku asked hesitantly, surprised at the contact. His arms twined themselves naturally around Sora's body, though they hadn't hugged in years. Sora nuzzled against Riku's chest and nodded before letting out a whispering sigh.

"I missed you, Riku." He murmured, turning entrancing blue eyes up to meet riveting aquamarine. "I'm sorry." The blue eyes filled with remorseful tears. He didn't understand how he had been foolish enough to think Kairi was his soul mate. How he could have confused his feelings for her with the rushing, tingling feeling flowing around his whole body here in Riku's arms. Riku's eyes softened and looked almost pained at the sight of Sora's tears. Slowly, as if gauging how he would be received, Riku brought his lips upon Sora's, caressing them softly and poured all of his feelings for the younger into the contact.

"Sora." He whispered, lips still barely brushing, eyes closed peacefully. The brunet sighed contentedly, shuffling around to seat himself in Riku's lap without breaking contact. Shy hands quested up to run through silky silver locks and twine the fine strands around his fingers. Riku's kisses moved from Sora's lips to the tears streaking his cheeks. "Sora. I love you. I always did." Riku said ever so quietly. Sora bit his bottom lip to suppress a whimper.

"Riku, I'm so sorry. I love you too. I'm sorry that it took me so long to realise. I love you." Sora pulled back to gaze into Riku's eyes and smiled waveringly. "I love you." He repeated again before leaning forward to kiss the very tip of Riku's nose.

In the room where the Fae gathered to dine, Kairi was sat beside Yuffie, eyeing the dark haired female cautiously. She had insisted they stay until the room had emptied and was now gazing at the redhead intently. Finally, she spoke. "What did Riku mean, when he said that I should keep an eye on you?" she asked. Kairi remained silent, lowering her gaze to her hands folded in her lap. "Why does he hate you so much Kairi?" Yuffie prodded. Slowly, the younger looked up.

"Riku thinks that I stole Sora away from him." She replied.

"And did you?" Yuffie questioned. Kairi glared up at her.

"No. Sora chose to spend that time with me." She answered honestly. "I never told him to stay away from Riku." She half lied, she'd never _told_ Sora to stay away, but she had encouraged the brunet to stay with her and no one else. Her eyes once again averted from the intense violet gaze.

"Kairi...Riku loves Sora." Yuffie said softly, wincing as the other female scowled at her ferociously.

"How do you know?" she spat.

"Because I can see it. In his eyes, the way he stands, the way he speaks, the way he reacts when Sora's mentioned."

"But...why should he get Sora?" Kairi pouted.

"Kairi. Sora's not the one for you." Yuffie's hand moved to cup Kairi's cheek and bring her head up to allow eye contact. "You don't need Sora to feel valued or wanted. He's not the only one who cherishes your company." Kairi's eyes widened slightly, unsure of what to do as Yuffie moved her face closer. The kiss she was expecting didn't come. Instead, Yuffie bumped their foreheads together gently and allowed their breath to mingle. "I don't think you love Sora, not in the way he needs someone to love him in order to have eggs. You love him like you love your sisters, you love the attention he gives you, the close bond you've formed. But Kairi, you don't love him. Not in the way I think that I could love you." Kairi's breath caught.

"Yuffie...Sora never made me feel like this. Like there's a butterfly trapped inside me, like my heart's trying to explode. I'm so confused. It feels nice, but it hurts too. When you talked to the others...It hurt. I don't like it, but I don't want you to leave." Yuffie smiled at Kairi and brushed a stray lock of hair back from her face.

"I don't want to leave. I like it here. I want to spend more time with you. I want to know everything about you. I want us to be close like Roxas and Axel...even if that does result in turning Axel into a quivering wreck." The dark haired girl grinned before pressing a tender kiss to Kairi's cheek. "I want to be more to you than Sora ever was. I want us to be happy. I don't want you to hurt Kairi, I want for you to always be happy." Kairi blinked at the girl and swallowed down some of her reservations. It didn't matter that two females being together was wrong, or pointless. If they could be happy together, why should males be the only ones to frequently enjoy such close bonds with another? Why should gender have an impact on who you loved, who you were close to? Kairi planted a very timid kiss against Yuffie's lips, lingering long enough to feel the other female's lips curve in a small smile. Warmth engulfed the pair; a shiver ran down Kairi's back as Yuffie hugged her close.

"I think...I want those things too." Kairi murmured, nuzzling her nose into the crook of Yuffie's neck and breathing in the refreshing scent of the older female. Being held felt nice. Being with Yuffie made her feel like she was something precious. Her eyes drifted closed contentedly as Yuffie nuzzled her cheek against the crown of Kairi's head. It felt right; why not give it a go?

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**A.N -** I'm sorry about this chapter, I feel that I'm trying to cram a lot into it and that the timeline is a bit wrinkled and twisty. But hopefully it makes sense. :/ If you find anything that you feels needs altering, let me know! Got something to say about the story? Throw me a review. I love to hear from my readers! *beams*

**_Dreamy xxx_**


	9. Chapter 8

**A.N** - I'm sorry! *shot* I don't know why but I've been feeling really low and stressed out and all I want to do is sleep. I've been putting off college work and have found it impossible to write. But finally, here's chapter 8. I know it's kinda skippy. I'm trying to skim to the important events without just making a time jump. Hope it's ok.

**PLEASE NOTE! **This chapter has been Beta-ed! Leon Heartnet (not Leon Leonheart as I said previously! oops!) will be checking my spelling and grammar and helping me clear up any bits that are badly written! lol. I expect there may be a lot.

**Dedicated to...** The wonderful Rocketship Romance. For drawing me a gorgeous picture of the newest character in this chapter. The link can be found on my profile page. Go see! It's fab!

And finally...

**Disclaimer -** I do not own anything but the storyline and a vast collection of Disney Videos. If I owned any of the characters I would force them into doing naughty things for my pleasure and film them for yours! ahhaha...no, that's a little creepy...*shifty eyes*

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As summer slowly melted into autumn, Riku and Sora met with Ariel at least once a week. The story of the boy and his angel was a popular one. Ariel wrote evocatively but simply, charming her readers both young and old, and Eric's illustrations captured Sora's innocence and strength of heart. However, everyone was most captivated by the angel who was ever at Sora's side. The woods saw more visitors than they ever had. Families came picnicking and made sure to take their rubbish home with them. Schools came to learn about the wildlife and organised litter-picking groups. The petition to save the woods swelled in numbers, but it was causing great deals of arguments amongst the government. Other than Cloud Strife and Leon Leonheart, none of the names signed had a surname, and they were all exotic sounding, written in shaky writing as if the person holding the writing implement was not accustomed to its weight. However, these irregularities were becoming irrelevant as the number of supporters to save the woods swelled under Sora's metaphorical banner. Many children hunted through the woods in search of an angel of their own and the Fae smiled down at the younglings in wonder. Never had so many humans been seen, nor had any shown such reverence to their home. The children were careful about trampling plants beneath their feet and even refrained from picking the fading summer flowers. As winter approached swiftly, the children hung up feeders and houses for the birds and, though they couldn't enjoy picnics, came to make snowmen and stage snowball wars. Sora informed Ariel that he wouldn't be available until spring because he had to spend time with family. Axel's eggs would be hatching soon, and besides, Sora had some rather big news to break himself.

"I'm carrying eggs." The little brunet admitted, blushing as he sat in the secure embrace of Riku's arms and stuffed another morsel of suet into his mouth. The humans had been leaving balls of the gooey stuff for the birds, hanging them in the tree branches, and Sora was irresistibly drawn to them. Roxas gaped at his twin brother, Axel congratulated the pair, and Riku simply beamed proudly. He was almost bursting with happiness at the fact that he really _was_ Sora's soul mate. _He _was the one to make the small male happy enough to produce eggs. And, although it made him a little discontented that he couldn't be the first of the two to carry eggs, he was thrilled at the prospect of his special someone bringing new life into the nest. Axel and Roxas left Sora to his random cravings and moved to their nest, where they sat with the eggs as they had been doing every evening for the last week or so. Roxas had convinced Axel once to go outside into the light covering of snow, but the pyro had pouted like a half drowned puppy and the blond boy hadn't the heart to ask him to go out again. Roxas snuggled up close to the warmth emanating from the fiery faery and sighed softly as a hand came to brush through his hair calmingly as it had so many times in the past.

"What's wrong Roxy?" Axel asked, knowing his small counterpart too well to be ignorant of the emotional turmoil plaguing him. He also had his theory about the cause of said turmoil, but thought Roxas might like to talk about it himself.

"I always thought that I'd be the one to lay eggs next. I don't see how I could be happier than I already am. And Sora's only had Riku for a little while. I've had you for always. Why don't I have any eggs?" Axel heard the thick tears in Roxas' voice and swiftly scooped the younger into his arms to litter gentle kisses across his face.

"You've been worrying about Sora. You'll have eggs soon Roxas. Don't be sad. We've got these little ones to look forward to, and I know they'll love you. Just like I do."

The next morning, Axel stretched, yawning widely as he walked through the dining hall to grab a warm breakfast. He hated the cold weather; it reached icy fingers into the heart of the nest and made him feel miserable. Collecting his bowl of warm mushy breakfast, the redhead turned to find himself staring at Kairi and Yuffie snuggled close together, fingers entwined as they talked to Xion. The male shuddered and considered slinking back to the nest, where Roxas was still dozing, to eat his breakfast, when Xion spotted him and jumped up to drag him over to join her and her friends. The dark haired female had never liked Kairi because of the pain she put her brother through, but Kairi was a new faery ever since Yuffie had attached herself to her. Xion dragged her tall best friend over to her table and pushed him onto the bench and beamed. "Yuffie, this is my best friend Axel. Axel, this is Yuffie, Kairi's partner." At Xion's words, Kairi blushed brightly; Yuffie grinned and dropped a kiss to the top of Kairi's head. Axel went pale. His jaw dropped and he began making nonsense noises. At that particular moment, Roxas wandered into the room, rubbing at his eyes sleepily. Instinctively spotting the riot of red hair, Roxas made his way across to Axel and sighed when he saw the state his mate was in. Smiling apologetically at Yuffie and rolling his eyes at Xion, Roxas climbed into Axel's lap and bumped his forehead against the older faery's. Green eyes, pinning in slight panic, met large blue ones speaking volumes of disapproval. Roxas was all for Kairi and Yuffie having a relationship. Their pairing kept Kairi from Sora until he and Riku were joined as Soul mates on the twins' birthday. There was nothing wrong with two females being together in Roxas' mind. What difference did it make? He didn't understand Axel's reaction at all.

Axel calmed slightly as Roxas' familiar blue eyes filled his vision. Long arms wound their way around Roxas' middle; green eyes slid shut as he inhaled the familiar, comforting scent of the small blond. Like sunlight, sweet and slightly spicy, completely Roxas. He heard the boy sigh, and felt him run his small fingers through the little hairs at the nape of his neck. "Axel, this needs to stop."

"Roxy...I..." Roxas pulled back and pressed insistent fingers to Axel's lips.

"No. Kairi and Yuffie love each other. You can tell from the way they behave together. What's the difference between them being together and us?" he asked, covering Axel's lips again as the redhead tried to respond. "No. There is none. They love each other. Just like I love you, and Riku loves Sora. It's not their fault that they can't reproduce. You need to stop reacting to them in such a way. Everyone was accepting of us right from the start, even though it was unusual. Love is love, you shouldn't judge it." The redhead sighed and scrunched his eyes up tight, his facial expression registering only distaste for a few moments before melting into submission and a goofy loving gaze as he opened his eyes to look at Roxas.

"Okay. I'm sorry. I...will...try to stop acting like...like..."

"A homophobe." Yuffie supplied brightly, it being one of the words she'd picked up from her time watching the humans. "It's a bit stu...silly and contradictory seeing that you and Roxas are pretty much in the same situation." The female carefully altered her choice of words to try and offer friendship rather than insult and chose that moment to pull Kairi to her feet and bid the others farewell. Axel had the decency to look ashamed of his behaviour and nodded nervously in response to the females' farewell before resting his head against Roxas' shoulder.

"I'm sorry." He murmured quietly, receiving a hug from Roxas and a kiss on his temple before they ate their breakfast and returned to the eggs.

After that incident, if Axel was faced with Kairi and Yuffie, he made a great effort to be polite and tried ever so hard to view their partnership as ordinary. They also tried to make things easier on the struggling redhead by limiting their time around him and avoiding any overt shows of affection, but were slowly introducing him to their holding hands and hugging, hoping to desensitize him. By the time the twin's birthday rolled up, Axel was so busy that he barely blinked at the sight of the two females together. He was much too engrossed in celebrating the birthday of his love and his twin. And their birthday also heralded the day that Riku and Sora were joined together for life. Yuffie had wanted to have a ceremony for herself and Kairi, but the small redhead had protested. "I'd much rather we waited until the spring." She told Yuffie who frowned.

"Don't you want to be mated with me?" she asked, sounding hurt.

"No! I mean, yes, I do want to be mated with you Yuffie. It's just; I can't take their day away from them. I've caused them enough heartache, I want our day to be something to celebrate, to be seen as something joyous, not as me trying to ruin Sora and Riku's relationship. You understand, don't you?" Yuffie looked into Kairi's honest and slightly pouting face and beamed at the girl before covering said face in little butterfly kisses, causing the girl to giggle.

"Of course I understand. I'm so happy that you...I love you Kairi." Yuffie crooned and pressed her lips against her partner's fiercely.

The ceremony was simple but full of happiness, the nest was pleased that the two males were finally together and were even more pleased by the promise of Sora's eggs. But as soon as the birthday festivities were over, everyone's attention turned to Axel and Roxas and the eggs the pair was hovering over. They were bound to hatch soon. All around the nest one could hear whispering voices discussing the likelihood of any males hatching and an excited buzz reverberated around the nest. All gathered were eager to see the eggs hatch, but their twittering was getting on the last nerve of one particular faery.

Larxene really didn't understand the hype about the eggs. "We've got babies already, what difference is there between a hatchling and a birthed youngling?" she asked, always receiving the same answer.

"There could be males!" It infuriated the female no end. What made the males so special? The Fae could survive without them. And they seemed to be attracted to only other males anyway. Was all the excitement about the fact that there was a slim chance that one of the Fae could become a hatched male's mate? Larxene growled. Who needed a male for a mate? She didn't see why no one had yet followed Kairi and Yuffie's example. Surely a female would make a much better life partner. A female would understand you better, be more attentive and she would be a perfect match; like living with an extension to yourself. Larxene scoffed at the male obsessed Fae. She really didn't understand them at all. And so, it was with a kind of vindictive pleasure that Larxene watched each newly hatched babe be carried from the nesting room wrapped up in pink blankets. Of course, they were all absolutely stunningly beautiful, all delicate and pale with rosebud lips and softly curling hairs framing their faces. Thirteen perfect little Fae were carried in a procession from the room over the course of the next few days. And then everything stopped. Everyone waited with baited breath, but no sound came from the nest. No one was allowed in but the fathers. Three days after the thirteenth hatchling had left the room, a heart rending wail reverberated around the nest. Roxas was found cradling Axel's trembling form as well as he could considering their size difference. The final egg was still intact. It was the one that had been separated from the rest, proving Roxas' dread correct. The pink egg was dead.

It took Roxas, Riku, Sora, Xion and Axel's queen to remove the redhead from the nest. They shuffled him into a lounge room and fussed over him. Axel's usually vibrant green eyes were dull. He was shaking like a leaf and intermittently let out a keening sound. He'd curled himself around Roxas and refused to let go, face buried against the distraught blonde's neck, tears running down his face and dampening the soft skin he was resting against. The pair was given a short period of grieving before the queen had to ask what they wanted to be done with the egg. No one wanted to dispose of it. Larxene got rather irate at their behaviour. "You have thirteen beautiful daughters. Can't you be happy for the new sisters that have joined the nest? What is all this fuss over one stupid egg? It's not like you know if it would have been a boy or a girl. It's probably not fertile. There's nothing in it. We just need to bury it or throw it in the stream." With that she bustled out of the room and snatched the egg out of the nest, followed by a horde of squawking Fae. She turned on them, egg held carelessly in one hand, and snarled. "It's dead. It never lived. Yes, it is sad. But there are thirteen other new lives to celebrate. I can't believe you care more for the possibility of a male than the actuality of _thirteen_ females. It's..." Larxene's eyes suddenly bulged and she drew her arms, which had been gesticulating wildly, in close to her body. The onlookers watched her in puzzlement as the angry female stared down at the egg in her hands and suddenly shrieked, "IT MOVED!" Before anyone could get close to her, before Axel and Roxas made their way through the wall of living flesh, all craning to see what was going on, Larxene abruptly found herself with a squealing infant in her arms. Its eyes, when they opened slightly as it drew in fresh air to wail with, were a blue not quite as crystalline as Roxas'. The child's hair was a cute little tuft of pink. And the baby was most definitely male.

Everyone seemed to get control over their limbs at once and surged towards Larxene, who silently drifted back into the now empty nest to retrieve a piece of soft green cloth to swaddle the child in. Her eyes fixated down onto the little green bundle of life in her arms and she blinked at the wailing male. People started tugging at her sleeves, wanting to see the babe themselves, asking its gender, whining, moaning, shouting, cajoling. It was no wonder the baby was crying. Everything built up and up in Larxene, an almost visible pressure as she gazed at the baby still cradled securely in her arms. Finally, she spun on the gathered and let them have it. Electricity seemed to dance in her hair, lightning flashing in her eyes. "WILL YOU ALL JUST GET LOST!" she yelled and was satisfied at the hush that fell over the crowd. "Yes. It's a boy. No, the egg was not dead. Yes, isn't it lucky we didn't get rid of it? Now GET OUT! Let Axel and Roxas meet their son. Stop Being So Fuc..." an unexpected sound lilted around the room and bought Larxene to a complete standstill once more. She gaped down at the child in her arms and blinked in surprise. Clear blue eyes sparkled up at her as the baby chortled. He then proceeded to wriggle one pudgy arm free of its blanket and wave it around, making nonsense noises in imitation of Larxene's shrill scolding voice. Astonished onlookers watched the female's expression melt into one of utter adoration. "So, you like it when I tell those nosey busy bodies off huh?" she cooed at the infant who offered her a gummy smile. The other females hastily cleared the room, allowing Axel and Roxas to hesitantly make their way over to Larxene; desperate to meet their miracle son, but slightly scared of the woman holding him. "So, do you want to meet your daddies?" Larxene was speaking in that sickeningly sweet tone that all seemed to find necessary to use when talking to something small, cute and young. "I bet you'll like them a lot. It's that Uncle Sora you've got to watch out for. He steals cakes. But you won't be like him, will you?"

Larxene handed Axel his son and moved to idly tidy up the egg fragments and fold all of the cloths and blankets up. The new fathers looked down at their son with joy in their eyes, but Axel found his gaze being drawn again and again to Larxene. The female was the most feared of the Fae in all of the nests neighbouring theirs. She had a quick temper and was stubborn. But, when she was holding the baby, Axel recognised a level of adoration in her expression that was close to the one he'd felt upon first holding Roxas. And the baby boy obviously liked the blonde-haired female a lot. "Roxy?" He asked hesitantly, peering down into his lover's bright blue eyes. "I think...we should let Larxene name him." Roxas looked surprised. It was usually the task of the queen or the babe's mother to bestow a name. Then, a slow, understanding smile lit his face and he nodded.

"I think so too." Roxas replied, taking the baby and placing a kiss on his forehead. "Larxene?" The males watched her look at them with an almost hungry expression and smiled encouragingly as she warily walked over to them, eyes immediately seeking out the face of the baby. "Would you like to hold him again?" Roxas asked, not waiting for an answer before placing his and Axel's child into Larxene's cradling arms. Axel drew Roxas against him and smiled gently at the female.

"Larxene, we would like it if you named him." Axel said softly, heart swelling at the wondering expression on the usually hardened faery's face.

"Really?" she asked, rocking the baby slightly as he blinked up at her. Roxas nodded and Axel just grinned. "Oh." Larxene breathed, shocked and touched by their gesture. By asking her to name their son, the couple were also asking her to raise him. The baby and the female gazed at each other in silence before Larxene finally smiled widely and cooed, "Marluxia."

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**A.N -** Just to make sure...

1. This chapter has been updated!

2. I'm sorry for my slow updating, I promise you I'm trying very hard to get something to you every few weeks, it's just a bit difficult these days.

3. If I don't post anything beforehand...I hope you have a wonderful Christmas/holiday season and I wish you hope and happiness for the new year! :)

**_Love you guys, Dreamy xxx_**


	10. Chapter 9

**A.N** - I'm sorry. I feel awful that I've taken so long to update this story. :( I've been struggling. Then, last night I showered (I usually only shower in the morning and then rush around all day) and suddenly knew how to finish this chapter! So I scribbled it down quickly before midnight and wrote it up this morning.

**Warning** - This has now been beta-ed by the lovely Leon Heartnet. Nothing major has changed, just a few mistakes and confusing sections where I word things oddly.

**Disclaimer** - I don't own Kingdom Hearts or anything affiliated. =[

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Marluxia was the most demanding youngling that the nest had ever experienced. Not even Axel could match his son's stubbornness and wilful nature. The little pink haired faery, right from hatching, was incredibly insistent. He would not stand to be cared for by just any old faery and cried whenever Larxene was given some time to herself. He put up with Axel and Roxas to a degree, but it was only when Larxene was with him that the hatchling lit up with smiles and coos. And if Larxene happened to be shouting at someone, then it was even better. The nest would be trembling in fear of the female's voice raised in anger and then suddenly suffused with the bell like laughter from the newest male. It came to the point that the females cobbled together a harness for the baby and strapped him to Larxene's back, safe from any harm, as she ordered her underlings about the kitchens so that the child could be close to her. Sora had informed Ariel that he would be away for the winter but as spring showed signs of soon returning to the woods, the boy began worrying. Humans did not lay eggs, human males did not bear young and humans at six years of age most definitely knew little to nothing of having children of their own. What would happen to his eggs if Sora were to take on human form? In all ways possible, his body became human. He went from his adult Fae appearance to that of a human child. His eggs would either change with him or become irrevocably harmed. Riku was determined that Sora simply would not return to the humans. As far as they could tell, they had saved their home. However, Sora hated the idea of rudely ignoring the note Ariel was bound to leave him, requesting a meeting. Would she worry if this were to happen? The whole nest was soon aware of the dilemma and all brain power was turned to finding a solution that would satisfy both Sora and his over protective mate.

Roxas was seated comfortably in Axel's lap and popping dried berries into his mouth intermittently as he pondered ways for Sora to continue communications with the humans. Currently, the most popular solution was for Sora to write a note to leave the human female as she did for him. Riku liked this idea because it meant that Sora didn't even need to leave the security of the nest, however, Sora did not think a little note saying that he had to go away to visit family far away for practically a whole year was such a good idea. What would happen if Ariel were to need him? Roxas had been generally silent, not offering forth any opinions. He'd spent a great deal of time alone or interacting with Axel's clutch of daughter's, not telling anyone about the plan he was formulating. Rolling a sweet dried berry around his mouth, Roxas pondered the feasibility of his plan when Axel went unnaturally still. They were sat in the food hall and the redhead had been contentedly playing with Roxas' hair, braiding it and undoing the little plaits before redoing them again. The time he'd been spending with his daughters had had some bizarre, but not entirely unwelcome, effects on his interactions. He seemed quite content to play with their hair and even allowed them to weave sparkly bells and little stones into his own hair. Roxas looked around quizzically and was about to scold Axel, seeing who the redhead was looking at, when the faery's face lit up with a welcoming smile and he waved across the room at a pair of females. Roxas' jaw hit the table as Kairi and Yuffie meandered over to join them, soon followed by Xion. Twisting his torso around so that he could look at his mate, Roxas examined Axel's face for any sign of the usual distaste the redhead always exhibited around the female couple. Green eyes danced with amusement as they met sapphire blue and Axel's teeth gleamed as he flashed Roxas a sly grin. "What's wrong Roxie? Have I got something on my face?" he asked, eyes widened with faux innocence.

"N...no, but...you, and they...when? Why...how...huh?" Roxas babbled, gaze flitting between Axel and the girls, all of whom were wearing similarly entertained expressions. Axel chuckled wickedly.

"Me and the girls have been spending a lot of time together. Since you've been so busy doing something secret with magic." Roxas flinched and looked ashamed of himself. It was true, his plan to solve Sora's dilemma did involve magic and he'd been sneaking away from the nest to practice the spells. He was surprised that this had driven Axel into making friends with the female couple instead of pushing the redhead into pestering Roxas. All in all, he supposed it was a good thing. Axel's negative reaction to Yuffie and Kairi's relationship had been upsetting to the girls and caused a great many of the nests females to copy Axel's behaviour. However, regarding the stern but intrigued looks he was receiving from the three females and his mate, Roxas began to regret the new bonds of friendship, knowing that whether he liked it or not, they would manage to drive his secrets from him.

"So, you think you can hold the spell for long enough?" Axel persisted. Roxas rolled his eyes, the question had been asked more than once, by more than one person.

"Yes Axel, I've been practicing it. It's just a glamour. It's not that difficult." Axel wrung his hands anxiously.

"And you're certain that you'll both be safe? And that you will stay near home and..." Roxas sighed in frustration and planted his lips against his mates, effectively silencing him other than a slight mumble. It didn't take long for Axel to melt into a puddle of goo, Roxas smirked at the control he had over the redhead. After running soothing circles across Axel's scalp, Roxas snuggled up to him and sat comfortably in his lap.

"I promise you that we'll be fine. Nothing will go wrong. If anything even starts to look dangerous I can temporarily blind them whilst me and Riku help Sora fly away. He's not too egg heavy yet to fly, and with us there to help we won't be slowed down." Axel had buried his face in the crook of Roxas' neck. His heart was pounding with worry for his delicate blond soul mate. But it was also bursting with pride at the skill Roxas had with his magicks. So young and yet so proficient. Roxas found ways to use his control of light that dazzled the nest. He could do so much; it made Axel wish he'd paid more attention to his own gift. Surely he could do more than to just create fire. Though spring was still a while away, Ariel had requested a meeting. Roxas' plan was simple; he was going to cast a kind of illusion over Sora to make him appear in his human form. Sora would not be able to interact with anything since he was not actually changing form - the illusion was made of light. Roxas was going to cause the illusion to look unwell and Sora would explain that he'd been poorly and needed to stay at home a lot. This would hopefully mean that he could bring the meeting to a quick halt and return to the nest. If all went well they would be able to re-use this method of meeting with the humans until Sora laid his clutch. Roxas was even planning on learning to imitate his twin's voice so that when Sora found it too difficult to fly; Roxas himself could go and commune with the humans. Axel, much to his disgust, was remaining behind at the nest because the dying winter meant the weather was temperamental and cold, making Axel slow and sluggish as well as limiting his magick and power of flight.

The flight to the 'note tree' took much longer for the three faeries than it had Sora on his first foray into human communication. Riku, remembering how exhausted he had been following the faery and then the human child, had broken their journey into short hops with breaks for food and drink in between. Not only were the twins not as athletic as Riku, Sora needed to be careful because of the eggs and Roxas needed to keep up his strength for casting his spell. Other than these stops, Sora called a stop every time he spotted some of the suet left for the birds and spent great effort in prying the frost hardened foodstuff from various containers and then stuffing handfuls into his mouth until he resembled a squirrel hoarding nuts for the winter. At one such occasion, Roxas found himself watching his twin with distaste and fervently hoping that when he himself had eggs, he would never EVER crave the little gooey balls of fat studded with various seeds. In fact, he really would rather have his eggs in the late summer, even though he knew this would still mean he'd have to suffer through a winter. In the summer, Axel just wanted to be outside. Roxas could imagine himself sat in a comfy nest in a tree close to the home nest. And Axel would be flying around and bringing him sweet little wild strawberries to nibble on, they would watch the stars come out and it would be all peaceful and calm. "You want some?" Rudely awakened from his daydreaming, Roxas leapt back, narrowly avoiding the handful of suet Sora had generously offered and nearly shoved up his left nostril.

"No! Eewww! Uh, I mean...no thank you Sora. Why on earth do you think I'd want some?" Roxas blinked in confusion as Riku raised a quizzical eyebrow and Sora studied Roxas' stomach.

"Roxas...do you have eggs?" Sora asked slowly, knowing this was a touchy subject.

"No." The blond twin replied forlornly before frowning. "Why?" Sora shuffled, chewing the last bit of suet with obvious relish before responding.

"You were staring at my snack and drooling." He replied happily before grabbing Riku's hand and flying off, leaving Roxas gaping like a goldfish. He really had to keep his mind on their current objective and away from his mate back at home. He hadn't been away for long and he already missed the fire faery. He supposed it was a kind of separation anxiety, he had never actually been parted from Axel for any length of time, and the redhead had always been only a few short moments away. Slowly, sighing to himself, Roxas flew after Sora. He was getting nervous about facing the humans, envious of his brother, who at least had Riku's hand to hold.

As they got to their meeting place, the sky was filling swiftly with clouds, black and heavy with rain. Sora perched himself out of harm's way on a branch, and Roxas began weaving his glamour, fervently hoping the clouds could hold their burden for just a while longer. If it began to rain whilst they spoke to Ariel, the humans would want to take the poorly child somewhere warm and dry. And if the heavens opened whilst they were away from the nest, they would have no choice but to seek shelter. It would be impossible to fly. If anything, Roxas' bleak thoughts assisted him in creating a human sized replica of his twin when they had been much younger. The child was bundled up in a thick black coat, the bright red scarf wound about his neck and mouth only emphasised his paleness and the dark rings under his eyes. Roxas was rather proud of his creation and, taking a seat beside Sora – Riku hovering protectively on a slightly higher branch; he made his puppet of light shuffle around uncomfortably and experimentally squeezed Sora's hand to time the sound and motion of a deep cough. With the puppet's mouth hidden by the scarf, Roxas didn't have to worry about syncing the lip movements with Sora's voice. They didn't have long to wait for Ariel and the ever-present Eric to arrive. Roxas was momentarily caught off guard as the woman with long red hair let out a cry and ran towards the child with open arms and a big smile. The faery swiftly manipulated his puppet to raise its arms in an abortive gesture as Sora called out "STOP" in a crackly, weak voice to emphasise his 'illness'. Ariel halted looking hurt and confused. Roxas, squeezing Sora's hand, made the puppet cough. "I'm sorry Ariel, I just..." Sora coughed again and the fae watching saw the woman's face contort in sympathy and concern. "I'm just sick and I don't want you to get it. Mommy says I can't talk long. I need to stay in bed." Puppet Sora pouted adorably though only his eyes showed it. "But my father says it's rude to miss important meetings, so I came to see you."

"Well, we'll try to not keep you too long." Ariel smiled. "We really wanted to ask you a little more about your angel." Unbeknownst to the humans, high above their heads, faery Sora threw a quick glance up at Riku, blushing. He had taken to using 'Angel' as Riku's pet name. Roxas smirked at this little interaction as he directed his puppet to look curious as he nodded.

"Okay." Sora said, realising the humans were waiting for some sort of cue.

"Well, we were wondering what he looks like when he's small? When you described him before, it was when he was big, wasn't it?" Sora frowned, confused, his actions copied by Roxas' puppet.

"He looks the same."

"But, you were carrying him around. There has to be differences in his appearance." This time Eric spoke up, not entirely pleased to be encouraging this behaviour further.

"Ye-es...but he still looks the same. Just littler." Sora glanced at his brother and then at Riku. They both shrugged, not knowing what the humans were expecting. "He's just like a little grown-up...everything looks the same. He's just...little." The puppet's face scrunched up looking confused, frustrated and close to tears.

"Okay then." Ariel soothed. "Oh, Sora...You once said Riku was big when you were here in the woods." The Sora-puppet beamed and nodded before coughing quietly at a squeeze of Sora's hand.

"Yep." He said after recovering.

"Is he here now?" Ariel glanced around; wishing this guardian angel watching over Sora and the Earth was real.

"'Course!" Sora chirped, glancing at Roxas who indicated the shadowy branches high above them in the tree, making the puppet point there too. Riku, unnoticed, smiled as an idea hit him and a devious expression took over his features. "He's up there, where the shadows are."

Both adults looked up despite themselves. Where Eric quickly looked down, humiliated by his actions, and began sketching some of the winter landscape, Ariel's gaze lingered. "And what does Riku think of us?" she asked softly, enamoured of the world the boy's imagination painted. Sora smiled and allowed himself to talk in a slightly more mature manner, as if he really were voicing his Angel's thoughts.

"Riku says that it's good to see some humans remember their duties to the Earth. Everything we once knew has been forgotten and we poison the Earth. But people like you, who try to help and spread awareness about how we need to be more careful...Well, Riku says that there needs to be more like you. He is sad that humans have forgotten how to see the magick in the world around us." Sora was concentrating hard on referring to himself as a human, Roxas was amazed by the emotion his twin was putting into the speech whilst conveying an important message.

"There are angels everywhere, I bet. Where there's green stuff and lotsa plants. Riku doesn't like all the smoke and stone in human places." Sora's voice lapsed back into his more childish dialect. "Riku loves trees and flowers and stuff. Only us kids still believe in the old world where magick was something as normal as cars and malls and icecream. Riku told me once that only when an angel wants a grown-up to see him, and only if the grown-up really, really wants to believe in magick – then they will. Otherwise they're invisible." Sora squeezed Roxas' hand once more and coughed violently, hoping to start on their way home soon. He was getting hungry.

Shooting the boy a sympathetic glance as he coughed and spluttered until left wheezing for breath, Ariel glanced up at the tree where the trunk overshadowed some sturdy looking branches. Her eyes widened and, gasping in surprise and excitement, she spun to get Eric's attention. "What is it?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow at his wife's glowing expression. He followed her slightly shaking finger's direction to find himself looking up through the tree's branches to the angrily roiling clouds. Confused about why this had created such a euphoric expression on his wife's face, Eric turned to Sora. "We'd best be off, it's going to storm." He stated, oblivious to the awed expression his wife still held. "Would you like a lift?" Sora shook his head, copied by the puppet, as he eyed Riku's smug expression speculatively.

"No thanks, it's quicker to go through the woods." He said before calling out, "BYE!" as Roxas' puppet waved and scampered off into the woods.

Ariel allowed Eric to drag her to their car. Her hands were itching for pen and paper because, for that one short moment, Ariel had seen the shadowy figure of a winged man standing protectively over Sora from high in the tree's branches.

* * *

**A.N **- I hope you like it. I anticipate the story will finish soon. Should be less than 5 chapters left. Eeeh. We shall see.

**_Dreamy xxx_**


	11. Chapter 10

**A.N -** I'm so sorry, I really am, for not writing this any faster. Things have been going on such as my internet dying for two weeks, my dad being home for just over a week, panic over uni, family troubles. My head just isn't into the whole writing thing at the moment. I sincerely hope that the quality of this chapter hasn't suffered, though I fear it may. I am determined to finish this story, should be about 3 chapters left I think. Perhaps an epilogue too. Thank you for your continued patience and support.

**Disclaimer - **I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any affiliated character. I am not making any profit from the random doodlings of my mind.

* * *

Back in the home nest, Axel was turning his nervous energy to a use and had a wailing Marluxia held firmly on his rapidly bouncing knee in the hopes of quietening the child. It wasn't working, but it made Axel feel like he was being useful. The tiny pink haired male had been left in the care of Kairi and Yuffie early that morning. When he'd awakened to find that his 'mother' had been replaced by her two friends, Marluxia had been a bit tearful. However, when they began to entertain him with toys, games, singing and stories, the child had settled down. Larxene often had to leave him but it was always only for a short period of time. The faery in question was out laying charms around their home in preparation of the looming storm. She created specific channels form the rainfall, directing it away from where it would cause harm and to places it was needed or the stream. This was a long task so, hoping to return before her precious baby began to cause a fuss, she had dropped him with Kairi and Yuffie whilst he was still sleeping peacefully in his woven basket. After they stopped being entertaining, Marluxia had began to cry, great big heart rending sobs and huge glistening tears accompanied by wailing and temper tantrums so loud that the female couple had foisted him off to Axel. Marluxia found himself held in strong arms which rocked and patted and stroked and soothed him, but the underlying tension behind his father's actions only made him cry louder.

Axel was worried sick about his mate. Roxas, all delicate sunshine, was out in the presence of humans. The expedition party knew that there was a storm on the way, and with Roxas pretty much running the show, Axel should have felt secure in the knowledge that they'd be home soon. But he wasn't, not even when he tried to remind himself that Roxas and Riku would both be playing over protective mother hens to the egg-heavy Sora. The pair surely would coax and usher him to be swift in his meeting, to rush him home to the warm, safe nest and Axel would be able to wrap himself around Roxas as the storm broke and wailed outside their safe haven. That was what would happen, but Axel couldn't help but to panic. He hated the feeling of emptiness he was suffering under, little pink bundle of child bouncing on his nervous knee, because Roxas was gone. Roxas who Axel had been besotted by from the get go, who he had adored and cherished and never been parted from. It was silly, clingy and childish, but the redheaded faery wanted his mate back, safe in his arms. The focus of that last thought was the word 'safe'. The fear that in being away from the nest, away from Axel himself, Roxas was in danger. That was the cause of Axel's furiously bounding leg, his anxiously fluttering fingers and that fear was picked up on by the soft bundle of pink skin and wispy pink hair and was causing the increasing decibel of his cries.

Fire magick gave Axel a quick temper, but he had always been infinitely patient around younglings, possibly due to his uncanny ability to tune everything out and turn his mind inwards. The only reason he snapped back into reality after goodness knows how long of drifting and worrying, was the fact that something was tugging at the baby he was still holding onto tightly. And that something was dripping cold and wet onto Axel's bare feet. And once his attention was no long turned onto himself, Axel realised that the wailing from his tiny pink haired son had been replaced by chirping and giggles. Blinking owlish green eyes to clear his hazed vision, Axel sighed and relinquished Marluxia into Larxene's softly tugging hands. He soaked in the relative silence, his ears ringing oddly at the lack of squalling noise. Then his eyes widened in horror as he looked up to Larxene who was cooing fondly at 'Precious Marly-kins'.

"When did the rain start?" Axel cut through the syrupy sweetness of murmured endearments. Larxene looked up from the smiling babe in her arms and tried to figure out how long the heavens had been buffeting her with wind and rain.

"Hmm." She hummed thoughtfully. "I would say at least an hour." Her eyes met Axel's panicked green ones. "Why? I've laid the charms; we're set for the biggest storm ever!" The female beamed, but its brilliance slowly dimmed at Axel's expression.

"Roxas." One solitary word broke the redhead's silence and then a furious heat emanated from his body. Larxene cringed away from the male, shielding Marluxia from the painful heat with her body and watched in some kind of horror struck fascination as the faery left the room and began to sprint up through the nest, heading for the nearest exit.

* * *

The rain began sooner than the three faeries had anticipated as they flew towards home. The drops hadn't began as a fine mist or light shower as they often did, but had suddenly appeared, pelting the earth below with hard heavy rain and wailing wind. It was impossible to fly. Roxas' immediate thoughts had been focussed on getting his egg-carrying twin into some sort of shelter, and quickly. Their wings absorbed the water from their surroundings quickly and the strain of the sudden weight on the flight muscles was causing Sora great deals of stress. The flight muscles were incredibly strong and had to be to keep a faery airborne, but they were specialised for that one purpose. Fae wings hardly weighed anything; the muscles were for movement, not for the bearing of weight. Sora was more tired from the flying and now needed Riku's help in walking, the taller faery's height helping to shield his mate. It turned out that this was not the only thing the silver haired male was good for.

As Roxas fretted about how far they had yet to travel in the rain, Riku guided the twins unerringly to a fallen tree overgrown with a variety of other flora. Urging the drenched brothers into a hole in the trunk of the tree, Riku tapped a charm he'd begged off Larxene and sealed the small hollow off from the wind and rain. His next action was to hastily strip the shocked Sora of his soaking clothes and dry him off before dressing him in spare clothing he'd stored for such an occasion. Then he wrapped the brunet in a blanket and offered a towel and dry clothes to a blinking Roxas. Riku had taken the time to use his shadows to set up a number of such shelters in the circumstance that they got caught in the rain. Each held an assortment of clothing and blankets as well as plenty of food. Seeing the silver haired faery's swift motions in dealing with Sora, Roxas couldn't help but think of how Axel cared for him similarly.

Riku's offering of clothes and warmth went completely unnoticed by Roxas. The blonde's eyes were fixated on the dark opening in the bark which they'd passed through. Axel was at the nest. Axel expected him home. Axel was waiting for him. And if he didn't get home Axel would torment his nest sisters or try and come and find Roxas. In the rain Axel would be weaker than Sora had been. Something about his fire magick meant that he didn't deal well with the cold, and was very intolerant to water. There was a reason that Xion had always struggled to get the redhead to bathe. Roxas' heart settled itself uncomfortably in his throat. He felt sick with the weight of it. He felt himself being split in two, familial instinct driving him to stay where he was and care for Sora, his soul yearning to return to Axel and prevent the redhead from harming himself. He dithered in the entrance to their shelter for a timeless moment before taking a hesitant step towards the sheeting rain. A firm hand wrapped around his wrist, pulling Roxas against a warm bulk.

"Roxas, you can't go out there." Riku's voice was gentle but firm, brooking no argument. Roxas tried to anyway.

"Axel..." His voice broke as tear gathered and his heart (still lodged firmly in his throat) seemed to swell.

"Is perfectly fine. You know that Xion won't let him get himself into trouble. And she's got Kairi and Yuffie and Larxene to help her keep him safe if he proves to be troublesome." Roxas shivered, big blue eyes glistening with unshed tears. He wanted Axel, and felt guilty for contemplating leaving Sora. Riku gently hugged his mate's twin and silently dried and re-dressed the suddenly unresponsive male.

Once Roxas was wearing dry clothes and had been wrapped in a blanket, Riku changed his own clothing and swiftly dried his hair with a towel. Sora was hugging Roxas, running his fingers soothingly through the blonde's hair. The blond did not want to stay, his whole being seemed to yearn towards the outdoors, liquid blue eyes almost glowing with suppressed emotion and thoughts. Sora's own blue eyes met Riku's in a silent, concerned conversation. The brunet twin could feel the palpable roiling emotions coming from Roxas in waves. There had to be something they could do to ease his brother.

Riku chewed thoughtfully on his bottom lip as he gathered some food together for them. Sora was hushing his brother as the blond stammered out his concerns.

"I promised to be back safe. I promised it'd be OK. I promised, Sora, and now he doesn't know what's happened. He'll think that those humans hurt us and he'll want to come and find me and he _can't_ because of the rain and it hurts him and he won't be able to fly and it'll put out his fire. He doesn't just hate water, it hurts him. But...h-he l...loves me. So he'll want to come and find me. And he's stronger and taller and faster than the girls. The only one who'd be able to stop him from leaving is the queen. And if he's sneaky or really fast, no one will be able to ask her to stop him. And, Sora! I can't...I can't be without Axel. I think I'd die."

The blonde's speech had been growing faster and faster, words tripping over his tongue and getting caught against one another. The last was spoken slowly though, his voice creaking to stillness and quiet as the revelation hit him and his listeners. Sora's panicked gaze met Riku's as the light of an idea made the silver haired faery's eyes gleam.

* * *

"AXEL!" Larxene screeched, accompanied by a joyful chortle from Marluxia. The long legged faery didn't pause as he pounded up another flight of stairs. If he was high enough in the nest, the tree's bare branches might shelter him from the storm enough to allow him to leave. To find Roxas. The absence of the little blond was an aching rift in the redhead's skinny chest.

His first attempt of leaving the nest by the nearest possible route had been foiled by a curtain of rain. He'd briefly considered chancing it but had been pulled back from the fatal leap by Larxene. The weather magicked faery was following him, persistent and nagging; trying everything she could to corral Axel. He wasn't having any of it. Roxas needed him. He could feel the warm beacon of his mate's presence, even through the rain.

He could hear the angry buzzing of Larxene's wings as she flew up the stairs, there was no chance she could be keeping pace with him on foot. He grinned, a thrill of adrenaline bursting through him at the chase. If he could evade the most vicious female in the nest, surely he could find Roxas! Peering over one shoulder as he ran, Axel resisted the urge to stick out his tongue at the blonde female carrying his little pink haired son. He flashed the pair a small smirk instead and turned to watch the last few stairs disappear under his pounding feet. Reaching the next floor, Axel turned his steps towards a large window and moved towards it swiftly.

Suddenly he found his motion slowed. Two females grabbed hold of his arms, pulling back enough to slow him to a determined walk. Kairi and Yuffie beamed up at him sweetly but he could read the concern in their eyes. Axel waggled his pinned arms as much as he could, hoping to dislodge his friends. It didn't work. Larxene caught up and grabbed the back of Axel's tunic and scowled as the redhead looked back at her in frustration. "I have to go!" he yelled at them, frustrated tears welling in his eyes.

"Axel, you can't. The storm's going to last at least until morning. It's too strong to even consider walking in!" Larxene scolded - a babbling echo to her words formed by a cheerful Marluxia.

"That's why I gotta go!" Axel stressed. "I can't _bear_ not knowing if Roxas is OK. It hurts. You can't stop me!" With a savage twist of his body, Axel shook the three females' grip and took another two staggering steps towards the window. Xion stood there, arms folded over her chest as she stared up at her best friend disapprovingly. Axel gulped as he once more slowed to a stop. Xion's eyes were almost as wonderfully blue as Roxas'. In fact, she could easily have passed as a female twin...or triplet, he supposed. She was his dearest friend and he loved her as such. But Roxas was so much more to him; he couldn't let Xion tell him...

"Axel, you have to stay here. It's dangerous." Xion said, sad eyes wrenching at his heart.

...tell him what to do.

Axel opened his mouth to respond. Xion didn't give him the chance.

"No, Roxas will be fine. Riku is with him. They'll be worrying about Sora and will have planned for this circumstance. The last thing Roxas needs now is to be worrying about you. Or even worse, coming home to find you gone."

* * *

After Roxas had panicked himself into slumber, curling into a ball and clinging to Sora, his twin looked to Riku with a confused expression.

"What's wrong with Roxas?" he whispered, sky blue eyes concerned and bewildered. Roxas never lost his head; he was always collected and smart. Sora was the scatter-brain.

"Being away from Axel is hurting him." Sora's face scrunched up in confusion even more, Riku elaborated. "Being apart from your soul mate for an extended period of time is painful, like you're being ripped apart. Roxas is still young and hasn't been away from Axel for more than half a day since you guys came into being. He's scared about Axel doing something silly like trying to find us even though it's raining. But mainly, he's in pain. He loves Axel very much." Riku smiled sadly, memories of his self imposed separation from Sora vivid as he laid out some food for them all.

Clearly Sora's thoughts had taken a similar route. "I'm so sorry, Riku. I didn't know." Came a broken little whisper from across the hollow space. Riku looked up, surprised and nearly cried at the sight of Sora's anguished expression. Leaving the food, he rushed over and peppered his mate's unhappy face with comforting kisses.

"Oh no, Sora! No. I don't blame you, you didn't know. And I was used to not having a mate. Sure it hurt, but I could deal with it and I have you now. We're having babies. I love you Sora, please..." Riku's voice almost broke at the sound of Sora crying, "...please don't cry."

Riku's hands moved to brush away big rolling tears from Sora's cheeks as the brunet clearly struggled to regain a regular breathing pattern. The smaller male clung to his counterpart desperately, the shock of being suddenly aware of the pain he must have caused Riku for almost five years making him ache. With his head buried against his mate's strong chest, Sora spoke in a whisper. "What are we going to do Riku? This storm could last for days. Roxas won't stay that long, we'll have to watch him constantly and there isn't that much food here...and I don't think Axel would even listen to the queen telling him to stay for more than a day or so."

* * *

**A.N - **I hope you enjoyed chapter 10. I ended up writing it almost literally sentence by sentence. I'm really struggling with anything creative at the moment. *sigh* If I don't get anything else up for it...Happy Early AkuRoku day! :)


	12. Chapter 11

**A.N – **Oh my gosh, she's back! Teehee, I'll just leave you to this long overdue update! A little more explanation can be found at the end.

**Dedication – **This chapter is for Night-the-Dragon who sweetly asked if I was still writing the story. This got me back into the right mindset to slowly begin writing this again, even though I was struggling through my last bits of uni work at the time. So, thank you very much Hun. I know I missed the beginning of May by a long way! XD

**Disclaimer – **Since I ignored them for so long, the characters decided they didn't want me as their new mummy and scuttled back to their REAL parents! ;P

* * *

Axel had been corralled into a room buried deep under the roots of their home tree. The queen had been involved and Axel could not disobey her orders when combined by the pleadings of the nest mother, the female who had cared for him in his youth. The room had been especially designed to withstand the magicks of those fae who called forth potentially destructive forces. In this room, Larxene had perfected her skills. Axel himself was familiar with it having spent months after he discovered his gift trying to learn to control his temper. And if not his temper, at least the way in which it manifested the fire magicks he controlled.

By this point, however, Axel did not care over much about control. He wanted to go to Roxas, to bring his delicate light back to the nest where he could keep him safe and warm. And hold him; Axel had never gone a day without some kind of physical contact with his mate. It was bad enough that his body felt hollow and pain-filled, that his spirit was calling out to its other half; but the rest of him missed Roxas too. He hated not being able to look into the eyes of his beloved, his fingers itched to touch and stroke through blond spikes of hair, his arms wanted to wrap around the smaller male's body, he wanted to hear his voice and immerse himself in Roxas' scent. It made him sad that he could not. It made him furious that he was not being permitted to rectify the issue.

"We're not going to be able to keep him long, are we?" the nest's queen questioned, watching the tall male fling gouts of vibrant flame around the room – she was standing behind the magickly enhanced stone door which had a spell that allowed those on the outside to see into the room. Beside her, Xion sighed.

"No. I'm actually surprised he listened to you, your highness. Axel hasn't had to spend any more than half a day from Roxas since the first moment he held him. I think he's hurting, and he's angry that he isn't there to help Roxas. He knows that Riku will have to care for Sora more because he's his mate, and because of the eggs."

"We shall have to hope the rain stops quickly." Was the queen's response as she left.

* * *

In the shelter of the hollow space within the tree trunk, Sora and Roxas were sleeping like two squirrel kits curled up together for warmth and comfort. Riku had positioned himself in the entrance to their temporary nest. He was tired, the stress of travelling with his egg laden mate followed by the emotional trauma of dealing with Roxas' anguish had taken their toll of the silvery haired faery. However, he was still awake, even after the twins had been sleeping for five hours. The rain didn't show any sign of dying down and Riku was working on something. He needed to finish it before something bad happened, be that either Axel or Roxas escaping their current safety to pursue the other. Riku had never really thought of the extent of his magicks. He didn't know what he could get his shadows to do other than the simple carrying and occasional act of bluffing a predator into thinking they were in danger. But somehow, Riku needed to get message to the nest, to let them know that he and the twins were safe. Since he had no paper, and knew his shadows were not able to keep what they carried dry, Riku needed to figure out a way to give his puppets the power of speech.

It was difficult to do. First Riku needed to think of what happened physically when he himself spoke, he understood that something in his throat vibrated and his mouth and tongue moved...his teeth probably helped to shape some letters. The puppets had their own measure of cognitive ability, they had the desire to please their master and follow his will, but they really were made of shadow; Riku suspected that his magick was the only reason that they had the ability to interact with physical objects and he'd never noticed them do so other than to retrieve something for him. In order to give the shadow the ability to speak, he had to make it at least partially physical, real and there. Touchable. There had to be a way to give his shadow puppets more bulk.

Hours passed and Riku became more and more tired, more concerned about Axel and worried about Roxas waking up. The rain wasn't as hard as it had been, but was still heavy enough to make flight impossible.

* * *

Axel hadn't paused in his furious flame flinging. If anything, the male's anger and concern had only helped to heighten the heat of the fire he conjured. It swirled around the room almost seeming to take on the shape of flickering fae forms, long wings trailing as they leapt and spun about the room crackling their excitement. Axel sat at the centre of the maelstrom, knees drawn to his chest, vibrant green eyes narrowed maliciously at the door.

He ached. His chest hurt, like some vital aspect of himself had been ripped away. Even immersed in fire as he was, Axel could still feel the warmth that pinpointed the exact direction in which his mate lay. Roxas. Axel wanted to be with him. What if he was freezing right now and only Axel could keep him warm?

_Warm...Roxas...must...Fire, Hotter...faster..._

Axel's head slowly lifted as the sprites dancing around him began to glow blue and then white as they moved faster, bounding higher and higher until their ribbon-like wings lifted them into the air. The blue and white flickering light gave the room an eerie atmosphere, and had anyone happened to glance within at that particular moment, the grin on Axel's face was bound to have given them nightmares.

After hours of remaining sat in the same position, Axel's joints ached as he moved to stand, but he ignored them. He knew that these friendly little fire children were showing him a way to reach Roxas even if it were raining still. He simply had to figure out the logistics of flying whilst surrounded by that much flame, and also see if his little fire sprites could be summoned on command. Then, if he could convince Larxene to feed him, he could use that energy to swipe one of her charms as a failsafe and hopefully escape. He needed Roxas. Roxas needed him. And Axel wasn't about to let any female part him from his mate.

* * *

Dawn had come and gone unnoticed by the three Fae nestled in their meagre shelter. The heavy black clouds had only allowed the barest of light travel through, throwing the world into stifling shadow rather than pitch black. The elder of the three had not slept. He thought now that his newest puppet, waifish and wispy looking, would be able to talk. He eyed it through a sleepy haze, his eyes bloodshot and red, ringed with deep purple hollows. Riku's head ached abominably, but he was determined to send his messenger out into the rain with its message.

The messenger was modelled after the image Eric had drawn of Riku. It was much more slender, with unnaturally elongated fingers and its toes gave the impression that they were webbed, but its gray and black wings were feathered with tatters of shadow. The shadow angel had the usual big, luminescent yellow eyes, but this one had a mouth. Not a slit or something filled with many serrated teeth, but a normal looking mouth with two thin lips and a black, snakelike tongue. The puppet waited to receive its message. It wanted to speak very badly, but did not have words of its own. It was to act as a relay, passing its master's words to a recipient and, if requested to do so, to carry a message back in return. Simple thoughts filled its mind, expressed in hazy images and desires. Its main desire was to be given a task, to finally ease the thrumming it felt in its throat and tongue by giving it purpose. Speaking was what the new shadow was made to do, and it felt the desire to do so very strongly.

Unfortunately, the shadow's master was worn out, his chin hit his chest as the nights work and heavy thought finally pulled him into slumber. The shadow shifted from side to side in its position blocking the entrance to the shelter. The master had not given the message, therefore it had no purpose and the buzzing sensation in its mouth and throat only grew steadily more difficult to ignore.

Riku was awoken a few hours later when Roxas landed unceremoniously in his lap. The silver haired male stirred and blinked up at Roxas. The younger of the two glared right back, his expression a mixture of anger and hurt. He had been trying to carefully step over Riku's sleeping form, intent on leaving their shelter, when a shadowy form rose out of the puddle of darkness in the entrance and startled him into falling.

"Why? Do you not trust me; did you really feel the need to set a guard?" Roxas exploded, waking his twin up. He ignored the fact that Riku would indeed have been correct in not trusting him considering Roxas was trying to escape.

"Roxas! No, I didn't leave it there to guard the entrance...oh goodness! I fell asleep!"

"Don't lie to me! You left it there, hiding, to stop us from leaving. How stupid can you be! You know how scared of them Sora gets!"

The brunet in question had startled at the first sight of the new shadow, huddling under his blanket with widened eyes. However, the sight of the angel wings, tattered though they were, had relaxed him.

"It's a messenger, isn't it Riku?" Sora asked softly. His mate turned to him, a surprised expression melting into a warm smile.

"Yes, I created it last night; it is to carry a message to the nest."

"What message?" Roxas asked, eyes both wary and excited.

"Well, we need more blankets and food...some firewood would be good if they could wrap it against the rain. And, of course, to let Axel know you're ok. The shadow will be able to bring us a message back." Riku explained, smiling at how Roxas seemed to melt a little, relaxing at the idea of knowing Axel was ok, and that Axel would know Roxas was safe. The rain had to stop soon; no way could it prolong this heavy downpour for more than a day or three. No cloud was that big.

* * *

Armed with instructions and its very first message, the messenger shadow left the shelter and slid into the rain. It was surrounded by the shadow puppets, their antenna twitching as they swarmed about the messenger's feet. They liked the weather, enjoyed the lack of light as they ventured around in the daytime. Sunlight didn't tend to harm the shadows, but they didn't particularly _like_ it. The messenger was pleased to be on its first mission, glad that the master had laid his trust in the shadow's talent. It was to enter the nest and ask to speak with Xion or the queen. After relaying the message, it would offer to take the words of theses females, and the male Axel back to the master.

The group of shadows moved quickly through the woods, the three male faeries had been quite close to the nest when they'd been forced to stop. There wasn't that far to travel, though with the egg-bearing male in the group, it would have taken them at least three times as long as it would the shadows. The moved swiftly, movements disjointed and yet elegant. They were almost within sight of the nest when a painfully, blinding white light flared up and startled the shadows. They flinched, melting into the darkest hollows in trees and beneath bushes that they could find, hiding themselves away from the bright light. Humans were bound to panic at the sight of shadow creatures with glowing yellow eyes, and only a human could create such a fierce light.

After the brightness had passed, fading swiftly, the shadows hastened to the nest. The messenger paused, allowing the puppets to melt into their shapeless forms and attach themselves to the tattered shadows of its wings. Then, moving inside the nest, it hurried to find a faery to aid its search, asking softly for 'the queen' or 'Xion' please.

It felt fantastic to finally speak; the vibrations of its voice soothed the irritating, almost painful buzzing in its throat. The messenger found the timbre of its voice pleasant. It was soft and low, murmuring like the babbling of a brook or the wind through the trees. Yet it was clear and resonant. It definitely drew a lot of attention, and soon enough, the messenger had gathered a gaggle of female fae, all whispering about it from a distance.

It did not take long for the messenger to be ushered into a mostly empty room. No one knew how to react to it, but offered honey cakes and hazelnut tea regardless. The shadow took the offerings politely, but placed them on a nearby table. It stood in the centre of the room and waited quietly, shifting its heavy wings slightly as the extra weight of the puppets weighed them down. It felt slightly anxious; it wanted to carry out its mission well. Luckily, two females entered and the shadow messenger could identify one as being its master's sister. It tilted its head to one side.

"Xion? Your Highness?" it asked, just to make certain that its message would be delivered to the correct people.

After Riku's new shadow creature had delivered its message, informing the two females of the safety of Riku, Sora and Roxas before requesting supplies be sent back with the messenger and attendant puppets and finally expressing its ability to carry the words of the queen, Xion and Axel back to the stranded faeries, the messenger fell silent. It stood still in the centre of the room, watching as the females spoke. Xion left to gather what her brother had requested as the queen tried to decide how much Axel should be told.

The male had calmed down eventually. He'd even asked Larxene if she could make him his favourite, spicy meal. The queen was glad that the fire magick filled faery had seen reasoning, but a faint concern tugged at her thoughts. Axel never had been the one to give up on something he was passionate about.

So, the queen was not particularly surprised when, after a number of helpful faeries had bought supplies for the males, Xion burst into the room and shrilled out a panicked, "Axel's gone!"

* * *

**A.N – **I'm very sorry for taking so very long to update. University got to me and although I still enjoy reading KH fics, I haven't had chance to play the games and all interest in this story fizzled away. But I did promise that I wouldn't leave it unfinished and I know that I have at least one reader still waiting for an update, so here you go.

I expect that there will be between 2 and 4 more chapters left and I will try my hardest to have them done before September.

I hope that you'll forgive me and that this chapter's an OK one after my long silence.

_**Dreamy xxx**_


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